Sacred Heart
Cemetery Mission Statement
To provide understanding and caring service to persons and families at a time of grief and to help in the pre-planning for a final resting place. Great effort is to be made by all parties that arrangements, cost, and regulations be not a burden to anyone. Special efforts are also to be made to keep gravesites in neat and safe order within the policies recommended by Sacred Heart of Mary Cemetery Board.

1. The Cemetery Board

1. The Cemetery Board will meet periodically as needed.
2. Any special circumstances, permissions, hardships, complaints, or any requirements not in the cemetery policies are to be acted upon by the Cemetery Board.

2.  Internments

1. Vaults are required for all burials INCLUDING cremains.

3. Cost and Purchase of Grave Sites

1. The sale of gravesites will be handled by the cemetery clerk.
2. Price of gravesites will be $500 per gravesite for registered parishioners. All others will pay $800 per gravesite.
3. In accordance with the original agreement between the Roman Catholic Church and the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi, members of the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi will continue to have free gravesites.
4. A maximum of two gravesites will be sold to any one family unless at the discretion of the cemetery board there is reason for requiring more.
5. The transfer of lots to anyone other than the owner named on the purchase certificate must be requested in writing and approved by the cemetery board of Sacred Heart of Mary before any changes will be made.
6. When purchasing one gravesite, a second gravesite or more may be reserved for no longer than six months at which time the site has to be paid for or reservation will be cancelled.

4. Monuments or Markers

1. For standard headstone installation: all markers, monuments, stationary urns, planters and any other item intended to be permanent are to have a concrete base 2” wider than item on all four sides, flush with the ground, 1 foot deep. Non-standard headstone installation requires review.
2. Footing no wider than 38” from left to right for single, for double, not wider than 80” from left to right.
3. Front of stone faces west (Leach Rd).
4. Each lot may have one family monument, all additional monuments or markers on established lot must be flush.
5. Installation of foundations, markers, monuments and bases must be conducted by parish approved professional in advance with proper documentation.

5. Seasonal Decorations

1. Anchored decorations will be permitted as well as flowerbeds, but must not be wider than 38 inches across the width of the grave or 80 inches for two graves; and must not be more than 8 inches in front of or behind monument/marker, and must not infringe on neighbor’s lot. There will be no planting of bushes, trees, shrubs, or perennials allowed.
2. Safety considerations prohibit the use of:

• Copings, fences, curbs, steps, landscaping stone or edging of any material
• Bark, Mulch Stones
• Glass jars, bottles, or tin cans as receptacles
• Chemicals of any kind, including but not limited to weed killer

3. Seasonal decorations must be removed twice a year by November 1^st and March 1^st
4. Removed items should be taken home or disposed of in the parish dumpster located in the parish center parking lot.

**These guidleines go into effect May 1, 2018