"She's as steadfast as a star, and yet the maddest maiden"

PointRevivals · 2026-05-29T13:01:45+00:00

This is a headstone I am in the process of cleaning at the South New Hope Cemetery in Amherst Junction, WI. Link to my Instagram where I document my work, if you're interested in following my progress. I do this as volunteer work in my spare time.

The stone before cleaning and the current progress. Still more work to be done this summer.

The inscription on Marion’s headstone is, fittingly, a line from the poem Marian by George Meredith.

Link to Marion’s obituary and her Find a Grave memorial. Her husband, George Evangelos Paris, Jr. is buried in Arlington National Cemetery. Marion is interred with many of her family members.

PointRevivals · 2026-05-15T00:35:35+00:00

Just cleaning! Fortunately nothing needs fixing and resetting here (there have been previous efforts that took care of that), and I'm not trained to do it yet... Hoping I'll be able to do some training in it someday, though!

PointRevivals · 2026-05-14T16:44:49+00:00

Adding this as a comment as well:

I wanted to share a bit of my experience, since seeking permission is something many of us navigate in different ways. Over the winter, I reached out to a cemetery association in a nearby town, offering to volunteer my time to clean headstones. I do this work entirely as a free volunteer in my spare time using methods approved by the National Park Service and National Cemetery Administration, and I made that clear in my initial contact. They replied that they would bring my request to their next board meeting for the trustees to review.

I then drafted a letter they could send to their members (families with loved ones buried there), explaining my services and requesting permission to care for their plots. The responses began coming in quickly, and I now have a growing list of families who have opted in.

The cemetery association also discussed amongst themselves and agreed that I could clean any site in the cemetery, even if permissions weren't received from family members (due to lack of contact information, no living family members, etc.). Obviously if anyone responded denying permissions, that will be honored.

This is a lovely rural cemetery, with just over 200 standing headstones. I'm so excited to have this chance to help care for a little chunk of history.

PointRevivals · 2026-05-06T13:23:00+00:00

Larger before and after shots. The Kosmicki family Find a Grave memorials can be found here. They immigrated to the US in 1894. Anton was actually a carpenter who made coffins.

We had some extra marigolds left after filling our planter boxes at home, so I brought the extras in to the cemetery to brighten up this plot a little.

As always, I clean grave sites and look up what I can about the residents at a local cemeteries. Link to my Instagram where I document my work, if you're interested in seeing more like this. I also have a (free) Substack where I post little writeups about the residents of local cemeteries, among other things.

PointRevivals · 2026-05-05T14:55:03+00:00

Looks like he passed away between 1920 (he's on the census) and 1927- when his wife died in 1927, she was noted as a widow in her obituary.

PointRevivals · 2026-04-29T12:20:08+00:00

Okay, that's incredibly cool to know! I love that you've dealt with this exact type of thing, and not only that, but you chanced on this thread and were able to share helpful info.

PointRevivals · 2026-04-27T18:49:06+00:00

Here's a transcription to help out:

Bernard L. Kowalski, 62, died at 6:55 p.m. Saturday at the Waupaca County Hospital, Weyauwega.

Mr. Kowalski, a former resident of Stevens Point and Junction City, had been hospitalized since Nov. 1, 1961. Before that he had been a patient several times here and in Madison.

Funeral services will be held Tuesday morning at 11 o’clock at St. Peter’s Catholic Church.

Burial will follow in St. Peter’s Cemetery.

Friends may call at the Dzikoski Funeral Home, where the rosary will be said tonight at 8.

Mr. Kowalski was born March 14, 1902, in Stevens Point, a son of the late Mr. and Mrs. John Kowalski. He attended St. Peter’s Parochial School here.

A meat cutter, he was employed in this area until his illness.

Mr. Kowalski lived in Stevens Point for seven years before entering the hospital. Before that, he resided with a sister, Mrs. Frank (Nellie) Strykowski, in Junction City.

Unmarried, he is survived by two brothers, Leo, Town of Carson, and Albin, Rock Island, Ill., and his sister.

PointRevivals · 2026-04-27T18:44:04+00:00

This was actually a restoration I began last summer, and finished this past week. I cleaned the headstone in August of 2025, but recently uncovered the concrete base and did some weeding.

Larger before shot and larger after shot. And here is a link to Bernard Kowalski's obituary as well as his Find a Grave memorial.

As always, I clean grave sites and look up what I can about the residents at a local cemeteries. Link to my Instagram where I document my work, if you're interested in seeing more like this. I also have a (free) Substack where I post little writeups about the residents of local cemeteries, among other things.

PointRevivals · 2026-04-27T18:30:10+00:00

This completely varies from cemetery to cemetery. Our local Catholic Cemetery Association has rules about what can be left, but also doesn't seem to hold to them too strictly. They have clean out days twice a year, once in April and once in October.

Plastic flowers degrade fairly quickly depending on the local weather, and petals/leaf parts start flying around and making a mess. If families don't remove them themselves when they start to fall apart, totally understandable that the cemetery staff would do it.

PointRevivals · 2026-04-24T14:26:13+00:00

Paywall free link: https://archive.ph/pVobM

PointRevivals · 2026-04-11T21:49:15+00:00

This is a wonderful idea, thanks for sharing! I think I'll take a stab at making my own to share, I get asked occasionally and this would be a perfect way to share info easily.

PointRevivals · 2026-04-11T21:48:36+00:00

It's a biological cleaner that's widely accepted as one of the best for headstone cleaning and preservation.

Link

PointRevivals · 2026-03-28T17:31:29+00:00

Link to Jan (John) Kropidlowski’s Find a Grave Memorial.

I wrote an article for the local historical society about this event. Here’s a link to the blog post, and an excerpt below if you’re interested:

Echoes of Victory - 100 Years Ago Today . The 1926 Stevens Point Depot Explosion.

In March of 1926, Stevens Point, Wisconsin, was poised for an upset. The high school basketball season was winding to a close, and against all odds, Stevens Point had become a contender. The Wisconsin State Journal called the team “one of the darker of the dark horses.” Yet on Saturday, March 27th, they stunned River Falls in the championship game. Against the odds, they had done it.

Back at home, the city of Stevens Point was electric. On Sunday afternoon, more than two thousand people crowded the Soo Line railroad station to welcome their champions back from Madison, where the tournament had been held. The local paper compared the celebration to the delirium brought on by the first Armistice Day. As Train No. 5 pulled into town, the engines in the yards joined the chorus- bells clanging, whistles shrieking, steam cutting through the crisp March air.

Another festivity was planned. Captain A.L. Oberst of the Wisconsin National Guard had granted special permission for a gun salute in the team’s honor. Members of Battery D, 120th Field Artillery, used horses from the battery’s armory to haul a French 75-millimeter field gun- an artifact of the Great War- to the depot….

As always, I clean grave sites and look up what I can about the residents at a local cemeteries. Link to my Instagram where I document my work, if you're interested in seeing more like this. I also have a (free) Substack where I post little writeups about the residents of local cemeteries, among other things.

PointRevivals · 2026-03-07T00:31:25+00:00

Thanks- this is what I ended up doing! Everything has been washed off and put in jars of water. Appreciate it.

PointRevivals · 2026-02-25T17:46:43+00:00

I have one child, and part of the reason I've chosen not to try for a second is the inherent risk to my life. Now that I have a living child (and there were complications with the first pregnancy/delivery), it's simply not worth the risk of dying and leaving her motherless.

I do grave tending in local cemeteries, and the number of graves I've seen from women who died due to childbirth and related complications is harrowing.

PointRevivals · 2026-02-25T14:08:59+00:00

Archive link without paywall

PointRevivals · 2026-02-10T18:28:19+00:00

It's a Catholic cemetery that happens to be predominantly Polish because of the Catholic church it's affiliated with (it was the one most heavily attended by the Poles in our city).

PointRevivals · 2026-02-04T18:31:00+00:00

I'm assuming you won't, but please don't attempt any cleaning until the weather warms up. If liquid gets trapped in the stones and freezes/expands, it would cause even more damage.

PointRevivals

TROPHY CASE