It'll take a while longer to repair historic cemetery

Dundee Township Cemetery West won't be put back together by Easter, or even Memorial Day.

The township-owned Route 31 cemetery that was ravaged by an August wind and rainstorm won't be back to normal at least until summer, said Liz Gade, cemetery board secretary.

Residents will be able to put flowers or American flags on the graves of their loved ones, but each time they go to the historic graveyard they will be reminded of how bad the damage was.

They will see empty spaces where old trees stood and broken granite headstones.

"We're working with a monument maker in Elgin to repair the handful of markers that fell off their bases," she said.

"He's agreed to do it in addition to the other work he has. As for the trees, we'll never be able to replace those. Some of those were there even before the graves were dug (in the 1800s and 1900s)."

The wind uprooted almost 20 trees, causing them to fall on the stones. Township officials had them cut up and the wood away taken away, They also had landscapers fill in the holes and ruts.

People can safely walk in the historic cemetery. And families will be able to visit their loved ones' graves on Memorial Day and Easter, two of its popular days.

"We still need to work on the roads in it. Some of them were broken up by the rain," Gade said.

"It's going to take awhile, though. We can't plant the trees where the old ones were because graves are there."

The 7-acre cemetery was started in 1834. Now, it's full. And many relatives of the dead have died or moved away. Township officials have already spent $18,000 to remove the fallen trees. They also will pay to repair the headstones.

"We're just going to fix them. There's no one to bill." Gade said.

"Thankfully, none of the old stones or the Civil War monument were broken."

Dundee Township received a $16,000 grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency for the damage. They have no idea how much more they will have to spend for the new trees or repair the stones, the clerk said.

Township officials also own and maintain Dundee Township Cemetery East, along Route 25 in East Dundee. It was not damaged in the storm.