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Development
Heading up the hill to the cemetery, Seamus could not imagine how good life in America had been to him. He knew that some people, like the clerk in the lumber store, didn't understand what he was doing at the cemetery. They wanted just to get rid of the dead people and not worry about them any more. He knew that others would think he was nothing more than some who dug holes in the ground to bury coffins, a gravedigger and nothing more. For Seamus, however, his new job at Saint Dominic's Cemetery would be one where he took care of the dead like he took care of himself. I'm a Catholic, after all, and we believe certain things and that is what is going to guide me. He also remembered how his father had worked for the Church of Ireland minister in Cahirciveen and been the subject of ridicule by some people. He recalled how his father had tried to tell people that the Protestant Parson was also a child of God and deserved respect. Well, that is the way he would be with his new job at the Cemetery.
After making measurements for the new office and workshop in the cemetery, Seamus headed back to Port Costa to work on the plans. He figured that he would have more peace and quiet at home than he would out in the open. Also, he wanted to tell Kathleen about this as soon as she returned from school in Oakland.
All afternoon Seamus sat at the table and sketched plans for the new office and shop. Paper after paper was crumbled up and thrown away before he finally came up with a simple design, one that would be easy to build, but one that would somehow complement the setting. It would be a one-story building. There would be a room inside where people could sit while they waited to see him about a burial. The main area of the office would have several desks. Off that room there would be two smaller rooms, one would be to store the records and the other would have a nice table in it where he would be able to sit with families and help them make burial plans for their loved one. At the rear of the building there would be a large area where tools and other necessary items would be stored. He would also include a small indoor outhouse. Since coming to America he had discovered his preference for "indoor facilities" over the outdoor facilities that he had back home. The outside of the office and shop would have roses and other flowers planted along side of it and, if possible, he wanted to build a trellis running the length of the building and train Ivy to grow on it. To the right of the door he would affix a cross and below it a sign reading:
†
Saint Dominic's Cemetery
Office
Hours by appointment
Seamus Gilchrist, Superintendent
Just then he heard the train from Oakland blew its whistle. He headed down to the railroad tracks and waved excitedly at Kathleen as she crossed over the tracks towards him.
"Well, you look like you've just won some grand contest. What's the matter, dear?"
"Kathleen, you won't believe what happened today. I saw Father Murphy and he told me that they want Saint Dominic's to become a cemetery for the whole parish and not just for the priests and nuns and guess who they want to run it?"
"The pope?"
Seamus frowned at her and said,
"No! He's got enough work to do over there in Rome or wherever he is. No, they've asked me to run the cemetery. Father Murphy said that I would be called the superintendent and that while I had to come to him for important things, I would be the one to make sure everything happened like it was supposed to. Kathleen, I am so excited!"
Setting her books down, Kathleen broke into a wide grin and said,
"Seamus, my dear, I am happy for you! I know you'll do a good job, no, you'll do a great job."
With that Kathleen hugged Seamus and kissed him. "Congratulations!"
As they headed up to their home, Seamus said,
"Oh, and there's one more thing Father Murphy told me."
"Yes?"
"He said that I could pick out a grave for the two of us and that we could use it some day!"
Kathleen looked at Seamus in horror, whacked him with her book, and said,
"Please God, we'll not be needing that for many years, do you hear me?"
"I do, I do, I do! But it's nice to know that it will be there when we need it."
All Kathleen could do was to roll her eyes and restrain from whacking Seamus again with her book. More than possibly hurting him, she did not want to ruin her book.
Over the next few weeks Seamus worked constantly on the new office and work shop for the cemetery. Many times he went to the lumber shop to discuss the project with the clerk. One day, after finally deciding how much lumber would be required and placing the order, Seamus headed over to see Father Murphy. Finding that Father Murphy had gone to Rome on business for the Dominican Order, he spoke to Father Murphy's assistant, Father White.
"Father, I'm all ready to start work on building the new office and shop up at the cemetery. I just ordered the wood and now I'm wondering if you can help me find someone to work with me in building the office. I have all of the plans, but I can't do this alone. I'll need some help."
Father White thought a moment and finally said,
"You'll need some help will you? What about having some of the brothers come and help? That would save a lot of money, I think."
"Save money it would, but do they know what they are doing?"
Seeing Father White's annoyance, Seamus hastened to add.
"Father, I know they are all good, but they know about books and theology and all of that, but do they know about wood and nails and paint and that kind of stuff? If we're going to build this office, it has to be done right the first time or else maybe some mistakes will be made that will cost more money. With all respect, Father, we need to have people who know what they are doing."
Father White thought for a moment and finally said,
"Well, I don't know who we can ask, but maybe if I make an announcement at Sunday Mass we can find some men to help you. It would be good if you could be here this Sunday to talk to the people if they want to ask questions. Can you do that?"
Seamus smiled and assured Father White that both he and Kathleen would be at Saint Dominic's for Sunday Mass.
"I guess Saint Patrick's can spare me for one weekend, don't you think?"
That Saturday afternoon Kathleen and Seamus took the ferry over to Benicia and stayed in the hotel over night. He wanted to make sure that he was at all three Masses that were celebrated on Sunday so that if he did find some good carpenters, he would be able to talk with them and see when they could get to work.
By the time the 11 O'clock Mass was finished, Seamus had gathered together a crew of six men who were willing to help build the new project. After having lunch at one of the cafes on First Street, Seamus and his crew headed up to the cemetery. Once there they looked over the area where the office was to be built and decided that as soon as the lumber was delivered, work should begin. Three of the men were already retired and so they would be able to help Seamus during the way, while the other three would come up in the evening and on weekends.
As they were leaving the cemetery, one of the men, Keith Anderson, spoke up and said,
"Just a moment, there is one thing more that we need to talk about. This is a fine graveyard that anyone would be proud to be buried in. Now I just think that if we're going to help build this office, we should get first choice on the best graves."
With a smile directed at Seamus, he asked,
"Now what do you think, Seamus? Is this a deal?"
Seamus acted as if he was overwhelmed by the audacity of Keith. He pretended to study the grounds of the cemetery, as if seeing if there was room to accommodate Keith's request. Finally he turned back to the six and said in the most officious manner possible,
"Gentlemen, as soon as I purchase a register for the cemetery, you six can have first choice on where you want to be buried for all eternity!"
With that they all burst into laughter and returned to the Church. After explaining his plans to Father White, he and Kathleen returned to Port Costa and enjoyed a lazy day walking the hills surrounding the town.
When the lumber was finally delivered Seamus gathered his crew together and work began. It look a little longer to complete than he first anticipated ut by the end of June the office was ready to be painted. Seamus choose a light brown paint for the building and white for the trim. Keith and his son, who was home from college for the summer, promised that they would build the trellis for the front of the office. When Father Murphy, having some weeks before returned from Rome, came up to see the work. He walked all thought the office and shop and finally said,
"Seamus, you and your crew have done an excellent job! When will you be open for business?"
Seamus smiled and said,
"Father, I'm ready right now, but I did make a promise to the guys that helped me."
"Oh???"
"I promised that as soon as I bought a register for the cemetery they would be the first to choose where their graves would be located. I hope that this is all right with you."
Speaking loud enough for one of the workers, Doug Barns, to hear him, he said,
"Oh, I don't know about that! Maybe if you charge them double it will be all right, but nothing less than double. Triple would be even better!"
Seamus couldn't believe what he was hearing. Charge them triple? That seemed so unfair!
Realizing that Seamus did not see the humor in his comments, Father Murphy quickly said,
"Seamus, that is fine! Of course, I approve of that. Just make sure that you treat everyone who comes here fairly and I'll be happy and I think they will also be happy, even these guys that helped you!"
Seamus tried to smile and said,
"Father, I thought you were serious! But that is something that I promise. Whoever comes here will be treated fairly, like I'd treat my own mother, that I can promise!"
With the office finished, Seamus turned his attention to completing the layout of the rest of the cemetery. One the days that he had been unable to construct the office, he had gone over to San Francisco to see Holy Cross Cemetery and Father Collins, the superintendent of Catholic Cemeteries throughout the Archdiocese of San Francisco. He gave Seamus a lot of information and helped him meet the people who would supply things that would be necessary to run the new cemetery.
What Seamus especially found interesting was that the different areas of a cemetery were called "Dormitories" or places for sleeping. Seamus liked that allusion to his faith that people were just sleeping as they awaited the Day of Resurrection. For Saint Dominic's he would lay out first a dormitory for the members of the Dominican Third Order. Since they were always praying the Rosary, their dormitory would be called "Holy Rosary." They would be buried just down the slope behind the outdoor altar. Just inside the gate and behind the Italian Cypresses, which seemed to be growing taller and taller every day, there would be a dormitory for babies and children. He would call that dormitory "Holy Angels." Spread around "Holy Rosary Dormitory" there would be four more dormitories for adults and they would be named for the four evangelists, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Family mausoleums would be built along the fences of the cemetery. While he was not sure that the dormitories for the priests and nuns really needed a name, for his records he decided that they would be called "Saint Dominic" for the priests and "Saint Catherine" for the nuns.
Saint Dominic's Cemetery was ready for business!
However, there was one important matter that he had to take care of first. After purchasing a large register at the stationary store, Seamus got in touch with the six men who had helped he build the new office and workshop and told them to come to the cemetery as soon as possible. When Keith showed up with his wife Marian, he told Seamus that he didn't think that he was serious that they would get the first choice for their graves in the cemetery.
"Well, actually you did not get the first choice. I did! I just decided that me and my Kathleen will be buried over there in Saint John, right next to the Oak Tree. But you can have any other grave and I won't even charge you triple the cost!" Keith and his wife took some minutes to look around the cemetery and finally they came to Seamus in the new office and said,
"If you don't mind, we'd like the grave on the other side of that Oak Tree in Saint John, opposite you!"
"So we'll be neighbors for all eternity, it that it? Well, I don't know..."
Seeing Keith's surprise at his joke, Seamus quickly said,
"I think that's a fine idea!"
After Father Murphy announced that Saint Dominic's Cemetery was open for business, Seamus made more than one hundred reservations for burials. Five families came to tell him that they planned to move their loved ones from the City Cemetery as soon as they could afford it.
Finally he had a message from Higgin's Funeral Home. He was going to have the first burial of a parishioner in the cemetery. Mr. Rushworth, the assistant funeral director, told him that while these people were members of Saint Dominic's,
"They are not mental giants, I'm afraid."
"Pardon?"
"Seamus, you have to understand, these people just aren't too well educated. Clyde Roscoe died several days ago in his sleep and his family said that they just thought he was sleeping for a long time. He had eaten his lunch and when he didn't wake up for dinner, they just figured he was a very sound sleeper. It wasn't until the next morning that they tried to shake him, but the poor guy was gone. Eventually they called me, but I had to call the police first and they told me to take him away. So, can we bury Clyde after his Requiem Mass tomorrow morning?"
"Tomorrow morning? I'd better get to work right now. Where do they want the grave."
"Mrs. Roscoe said that she did not care, as long as it was not too expensive."
Seamus suggested that they bury Clyde in the last row of Saint Mark, in the center of the cemetery. With Mr. Rushworth's approval, Seamus hurried out the door and gathered his shovels from the workshop. He headed over to Saint Mark's and dug the grave. It took him all afternoon, but Seamus was not tired. In fact, he was so excited that this was to be his first burial in the new dormitories of Saint Dominic's that the time seemed to pass very quickly.
The next morning Seamus, wearing the suit that he was married in, stood at the top of Hillcrest and waited for the procession to head for the cemetery. When they finally came up the hill he solemnly led the procession over to the grave that had been prepared in Saint Mark's. Under Mr. Rushoworth's direction, the coffin was set ont he side of the grave while the priest read the Burial prayers. When the priest nodded to Mr. Rushworth, they slipped straps under the coffin and began to lower it into the grave. Just then, one of Clyde's sons cried out,
"Look! There he goes! Down the hole!"
Seamus struggled not to laugh, but he couldn't help it. He tried coughing to cover up his giggles. When he saw that Mrs. Roscoe herself was smiling at her son's remarks, he knew that he would not have to face her wrath for not being as dignified as he felt he should have been. Still, he would have to learn how to restrain himself in the future.
After the Roscoes left the cemetery, Mr. Rushworth came over and said,
"What did I tell you? Mental giants they aren't!"
Several days later, Seamus had the first grave transferred from the City Cemetery. When the man's wife came into the office she told Seamus that her husband had been at the first Mass ever said at Saint Dominic's when Father Vilarrasa had first come from Monterey. Seamus had never been to Monterey and did not even know where it was. He was going to ask Mrs. Cowan where Monterey was when she told him how surprised her husband had been when Father Vilarrasa had come out on Saint Patrick's Day and said a Requiem Mass. He just couldn't understand how he could do that!
"Well, when we moved the fathers' graves I saw that Father Vilarrasa died on Saint Patrick's Day. So maybe he learned his lesson about these things! Anyway, let's go and see where you want to bury your dear husband."
Because Mr. Cowan had been buried for almost twenty years in the City Cemetery, no priest came for the reburial. Mrs. Cowan had hired Higgin's to do the work and just before Noon, the hearse came into Saint Dominic's. Seamus led them to the grave in Saint John's that Mrs. Cowan had chosen. Feeling that some prayers should be said at this moment, Seamus said an Our Father and a Hail Mary before the wooden coffin was lower into the grave and the dirt filled in. Seamus had thought that Mrs. Cowan would leave before they filled in the grave, but she bravely stood there with her handkerchief to her mouth watching everything. When he was finished, she turned to Seamus with a simple "Thank you!" and left the cemetery.
Once she was out of ear shot, the young man from Higgin's, a tall fellow named Lloyd, asked him how soon he could have a grave dug.
"It will take me about four or five hours. Why?"
Lloyd explained that they had been called to a residence that morning. It seems that the old man had been dead for almost four weeks before anyone noticed that he was not around. The man must have been a good Catholic, Seamus was told, because he had his rosary in his hand.
"Can we bury Carl Farmer as soon as possible?"
"Without a Funeral Mass? That's not right!"
"Seamus, you must understand that Carl is pretty ripe. If we bring him into church they will never get rid of that stench. As it is, they can't even embalm the body. We just put him in the coffin and sprinkled absorbent powder all over him. That will hold the odor down long enough to plant him in the ground. Then they can have the Mass later. It just would not be good to bring Carl to church smelling as bad as he does!"
Remembering the trouble that Mr. O'Connell had with his father back in Ireland, Seamus understood the problem, though he was not too sure about calling the burial of someone "planting them"
Seamus then smiled at Lloyd and told him to bring Carl over at Noon tomorrow and a grave would be ready for him.
In the months that followed Seamus kept busy working in the cemetery. He buried many people and always tried to offer his own words of comfort. He knew, of course, that they had already been to the Mass, but for some it was hard to see the coffin lowered into the grave. Once in awhile a family would tell Seamus that they would not stay, but that they trusted him to take care of their loved one. The trust that these people showed for Seamus touched him very deeply. He always resolved that he would never betray that trust.
One day a family had what he thought was, at first, an odd request. After their mother was lowered into her grave, they wanted to sprinkle dirt on the coffin. Seamus immediately went back to Old Dromid Cemetery and his own father's burial. He recalled how he had invited people to help bury his father by tossing some dirt on the coffin down in the grave. Nobody had asked him to do that since he had been at Saint Dominic's so he had never even thought about doing that.
""Of course, we'll have a bucket of dirt ready for you and s small trowel. You can use that if you like to help bury your mother."
From then on Seamus always provided a bucket of dirt to sprinkle in the grave. If the families used it, that was fine. If they left it where it was, that too was fine. Seamus was only concerned to help the people do what they felt was right.
One day Seamus had a family in the office to prepare for the death of their grandmother. Seamus helped them pick a grave in Saint Mark's. As they were standing at the grave, her six grandsons, six strong young men, told him that they wanted to come to the cemetery and dig the grave for their grandmother. Like having a bucket of dirt ready for the families, Seamus had not had anyone request this of him. Again remembering his own father's burial, he told them that they should not worry, that he would be glad to help them.
"With six of you the job should only take two hours. If you're here by ten, we'll be done by Noon and you will have plenty of time to get ready for the Rosary.
One day the funeral home in Vallejo contacted Seamus and arranged a burial for an old lady that had died up near Mount Shasta, another new place for Seamus. They told him that the family had already had a Mass for her up there and that all they wanted to do was to bring her to the cemetery. Seamus had never had contact with this funeral home before and he was a little put off by the attitude of the undertaker. It seemed like he thought Seamus worked for him and that he did his bidding. Seamus always tried to work with people and with the undertakers. Besides, he knew what he wa doing and he did not need this man to tell him his job.
Two days later the undertaker from Vallejo brought the coffin to the Cemetery. Father Wilks from Saint Vincent's came with them and said the burial prayers. When they were complete, the family stood around waiting for something to happen. Seamus went over and spoke with one of the daughters and then went over to the undertaker.
"They are waiting for you to bury her. Why don't you lower her into the grave right now?"
"We don't do that in Vallejo. We're waiting for the family to leave and then we will bury her."
Seamus looked at him with surprise and said,
"Sir, may I remind you that we are not in Vallejo and here we do lower the coffin into the grave. Please, this is what the family just told me they wanted and this is what should be done."
The undertaker stared at Seamus for several moments, but realizing that it would be useless to argue, he motioned the pallbearers over and they lifted the coffin up with the straps and lowered the old lady into her final resting place. One by one they took some dirt from the bucket that Seamus provided and tossed it into the grave. To a person, they all thanked Seamus and headed out of the cemetery. Father Wilks even came over and thanked Seamus. The undertaker merely nodded his head towards Seamus and then left the cemetery with Father Wilks.
Well, Seamus said to himself, I don't think I'll be seeing that one over here too much!