53 Inman Avenue
Colonia, NJ 07067
Cemetery Office: (888) 444-2791 – (732) 388-0311
Mausoleum Office: (888) 444-2791 -(732) 388-8990
Shortly after the stock market great crash of 1929, in the midst of a growing Catholic population in the greater Newark area, between World War I and World War II, Roman Catholic Bishop Thomas Joseph Walsh was focused on completing Sacred Heart Cathedral in Newark.
Some might consider it curious that, at the same time, he was attending to future Catholic cemetery need with the opening of St. Gertrude Catholic cemetery in Colonia. The year was 1933, and the parcel is now 136+ acres, and St. Gertrude has been entrusted with the mortal remains of more than 75,000 Catholics and members of their families who await the sound of the final trumpet when the Lord Jesus presents the realized and accomplished Kingdom to His Father.
So, why select the 13th century Benedictine nun Gertrude to identify the cemetery? Known as Gertrude the Great, short in years, long in accomplishments, perhaps Bishop Walsh felt St. Gertrude was a woman for those times. Scholar, linguist, mystic, she balanced a call to holiness with a call to live in and build the community of God’s people. She lived piety while caring for the poor.
Today, as we enter the gates of St. Gertrude Catholic cemetery, we have her as a model to emulate, to find within us her strong faith, her commitment to grow in that faith, her ability to translate the hard realities of her day, poverty, sickness, death, into the promise of eternal life. When you join us to pray for the beloved dead you have entrusted to our care, we invite you to linger and ponder the life, the message, the example of St. Gertrude as you leave this place of quiet holiness.