The
Arimathean May 2025
A Newsletter for Those Who Serve in the Corporal Work of Mercy to Bury the Dead in the Diocese of Winona-Rochester
A Message from Conversation Leads to the Director Successful ◆ In this edition of The Arimathean, there is an article on one parish cluster's journey to bolster their Permanent Care Fund through a well-organized and successful campaign to raise much needed funds. One of my take-aways from this effort was the many people who assisted with the heavy lifting of the campaign. The work was shared by many and not left for the Catholic Cemetery Association members and Trustees. As one pastor once said to me “Many hands make light work!” Special thanks to Dana Clarke for writing the article and sharing their “journey.”
◆ While it has been our “Gold Standard in Permanent Care Funding,” the $25,000-peracre rule is a one-size-fits-all approach. It assumes that the maintenance cost for each cemetery and investment of return are the same, and it does not provide an allowance for inflation. As a tangent to Dana Clarke’s article, I have included a “Permanent Care Fund calculator” of sorts, and a guide. This will enable you to tailor your Permanent Care Fund estimate.
Permanent Care Campaign! By DANA CLARKE
◆ Reminder: If you have a “notable” person(s) interred in your Catholic cemetery and would like to share their story for publication in an issue of The Arimathean, please send me an email with their photo (if available), a photo of their grave monument and a history of the deceased. ◆ If you are in need of Permanent Care Certificate books, please email your request to Ann Ringlien at aringlien@ dowr.org
◆ A reminder to please notify Ann Ringlien or me if you change your email address, home address or phone number. We want to be sure that we have your correct information. Peace and all good,
Larry Dose
�y name is Dana Clarke, I am the bookkeep-
er for the three parishes of St. Ann, Slayton; St. Columba, Iona (recently closed); and St. Mary, Lake Wilson (recently closed). This is how it all started. Several years ago, and at varying times, three sets of cemetery books came into the parish office – St. Ann(e) Cemetery, St. Rose of Lima Cemetery, Avoca; and St. Columba Cemetery, Iona. Previously, the cemetery books were held by each cemetery’s individual trustee and were not in the parish system. Learning the parish and cemetery processes can be an intense endeavor. I, along with parish members interested in knowing more about the cemetery, needed to attend seminars, meetings, workshops, and webinars to learn how everything worked and terminology used, for instance, Permanent Care! I had many phone conversations with Julia Sandsness, who, at that time, answered cemetery questions at the diocesan office. I learned many things from Julia; Ann Ringlien now answers the questions and is a great resource for cemetery information. It was through the phone conversations that I came to understand what Permanent Care was: the funds that are required to have on hand, by the State of Minnesota ($25,000.00 per acre of cemetery land) and how the money can Conversation, cont’d on pg. 2