2017-2018 American Cemetery Excellence Award
Holy Cross Cemetery was the recipient of several prestigious awards including the 2017-2018 American Cemetery Excellence (ACE) Award. The award, presented by American Cemetery & Cremation magazine, a funeral and cemetery industry publication, recognizes the most outstanding cemeteries around the world.
According to the magazine, “far more than just a final resting place, Holy Cross Cemetery and Mausoleum offers a park-like setting, exquisite artwork, modern technology, and a faith-inspired atmosphere. It’s easy to understand why Holy Cross Cemetery & Mausoleum has been selected as our seventh annual American Cemetery Excellence award winner.”
Below is an abbreviated version of an article that originally appeared in our December 2017 issue of American Cemetery & Cremation.
By Patti Martin Bartsche
It somehow seems fitting that one of Money magazine’s 10 Top Places to Live in America is home to this year’s American Cemetery Excellence Award winner, too.
The magazine touts North Arlington, New Jersey, as having a “small-town feel” with the perks of a big city. And far more than just a final resting place, Holy Cross Cemetery & Mausoleum offers a park-like setting, exquisite artwork, modern technology, and a faith-inspired atmosphere. It’s easy to understand why Holy Cross Cemetery & Mausoleum has been selected as our seventh annual American Cemetery Excellence award winner.
Established in 1915 to meet the needs of Catholic families in the area, almost 300,000 individuals are interred on its grounds. Together, with a nearby Jewish cemetery and other non-sectarian cemeteries, the town of North Arlington has more than 20 times as many deceased people than living, with more burials than the living population of Newark, the state’s largest city.
“One must only observe the age of some of the artwork, headstones and private family mausoleums at Holy Cross to see those century-old traditions are deeply intertwined in the cemetery’s heritage dating back to its start in 1915,” Joseph Verzi, assistant executive director of Catholic cemeteries for the Archdiocese of Newark, pointed out.
In many ways, it’s that attention to detail – a commitment to families – that has helped make Holy Cross such a special place, said Andrew P. Schafer, executive director of Catholic cemeteries for the Archdiocese of Newark.
The cemetery’s mausoleum is a perfect example.
Constructed in seven phases beginning in 1979, the mausoleum now spans 265,000-square-feet on two levels, providing over 37,000 crypt and niche spaces – making it the largest Catholic mausoleum in the United States.
In 2013, the seventh – and final phase – of the mausoleum construction was completed. The final addition, cemetery officials said, embraced an evolution in Catholic mausoleum architecture.
“We are more than just a cemetery,” Schafer said. “Our mission has always been to provide visitors with a welcoming environment to remember, to heal, and to enjoy the beauty of the surroundings.”
Ninety major works of art can be found in the mausoleum, including six floor-to-ceiling mosaics that portray the Genesis story of creation. The mosaics employ thousands of colored stones and tiles hand-cut from glass, marble, and ceramic depicting the planets, sea creatures, lush vegetation, dinosaurs, and Adam and Eve.
One-hundred- year-old stained-glass art, including an 85-year- old, 10-foot rose window depicting Jesus with children, as well as various altars and statues, were reclaimed from now-closed churches in Newark, refurbished and installed in the mausoleum.
Beauty also abounds throughout the cemetery’s 208 acres, including a number of features that are significant for individual and group prayers, personal meditation, and reflection.
Near the cemetery’s main entrance is a 60-foot steel pyramidal structure with a canopy under which Saint (Pope) John Paul II celebrated the Eucharist at Giants Stadium on Oct. 5, 1995. The structure also serves as the backdrop for the annual Memorial Day Mass.
In a special section of the cemetery, there are 10 graves that have a connection to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The memorial resurrects the World Trade Center, featuring two 20-foot stainless steel towers built to scale that are bound by a stained-glass cross. Attached to the towers are four titanium plates etched with photomontages of the events that unfolded that day, as well as the recovery and aftermath.
A community-based fundraising program helped raise $225,000 for the planning, materials, and building of the 2,000-pound structure in time for a dedication Mass 10 years after the attacks.
Following the mausoleum expansion in 2013, the cemetery added nearly 30 new trees, reconstructed about three-quarters of a mile of sidewalk along the main road adjacent to the cemetery, and developed two pocket parks offering the community recreational space, Schafer said.
Holy Cross Cemetery’s ongoing community outreach also includes an annual food and coat drive collection, a monthly Mass of Remembrance, and a candlelight carol sing at the Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart in Newark.
2018 Bergen County Historic Preservation Award
During another awards ceremony, Catholic Cemeteries of the Archdiocese of Newark was presented with the 2018 Bergen County Historic Preservation Award in the category of Continuing Preservation and Use for its Holy Cross Cemetery 1936 Office Building Preservation Project in North Arlington. The Bergen County Historic Preservation Awards are presented annually by Bergen County Executive James J. Tedesco III, the Board of Chosen Freeholders, the Department of Parks, the Division of Cultural and Historic Affairs, and the Bergen County Historic Preservation Advisory Board. Joseph Verzi, Assistant Executive Director of Catholic Cemeteries, was on hand to accept the award.
“The essence of historic preservation is exemplified uniquely in our cemeteries because they serve as a primary place of remembrance of those we loved,” said Verzi. “The names we place on cemetery markers, monuments, and walls of columbaria and mausoleums indicate where the remains of our loved ones reside, and we can find them and tell others how to find them in our historic office building at Holy Cross Cemetery. As such, we are honored to receive this award and thank the Bergen County Historic Preservation Advisory Board for recognizing the historic significance of our cemetery office building and how much it has meant to our community.”
Holy Cross Cemetery’s office building was added to the cemetery grounds in 1936, almost three decades after farm owners sold the property to the Archdiocese of Newark to help establish a final and fine resting place for the area’s Catholic community. Little did the farmers know that one-fifth of North Arlington, or roughly 208 acres, would become the largest Catholic Cemetery in New Jersey, with over 300 thousand memorials. This equates to about 20 interments for every single living person in the town. Central to the cemetery’s operations has been the historic Holy Cross Office building.
By 2012, the building was showing its age from 80 years of wear and tear resulting from water infiltration, acid rain, and nonexistent insulation. Additionally, the vast and continuously growing numbers of archives required additional interior space to safeguard the records of those who had passed on and were memorialized therein. The humble building, just steps off busy Ridge Road, had been a familiar comfort to generations of grieving Catholics crossing its threshold to conduct the final business of a passed life. Understanding this, the Archdiocese of Newark decided to fully commit to the preservation of this cemetery records office building.
Within three-and-a-half-years, the project was planned and designed and preservation of the original building and construction of its addition were completed. During this time, the original building was brought into compliance with modern building codes, thereby extending the structure’s useful life into the foreseeable future. The building reopened in 2017 and continues to be a central resource for genealogists researching the Holy Cross Cemetery archives, which contain over 300,000 memorials. As stated in the Historic Preservation Awards program, “the new addition would not compete with the beauty of the 1936 building, but would extend its useful life and use materials and architecture sympathetic to the dignity of the original.”
Holy Cross Cemetery also was featured prominently in media coverage last fall when the town of North Arlington was named as one of Money magazine’s top 10 places to live in the U.S.