St. Mary's Cemetery

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about St. Mary's Cemetery in Falls County. Now settle in, because this one reaches back to the old country.

German families had not long ago put down roots in a new land, and they named their community Westphalia, after the province they'd left behind in Germany. That was 1883, and right away these settlers did something that tells you everything about who they were. Five men, Casper Hoelscher, Frank Wunsch, Theodore Rabroker, J.G.

Bockholt, and Frank Glass, each reached into their pockets and together bought one hundred acres. Then they turned around and donated every bit of it. Not for themselves.

For a community school, a church, a priest's residence, and a cemetery. That is a founding act, plain and simple. Now the oldest grave in that cemetery belongs to a child.

Heinrich Bernard Lenz, five years old, buried in 1884. Son of Mr. and Mrs. Fritz Lenz.

His grave marker, like many of the earliest ones in the cemetery, is inscribed in German. You walk to the northern section of the site, and that is where the oldest graves are gathered. It's also where you'll find a large metal cross marking the grave of Theodore Rabroker, named on that marker as Westphalia's first settler, and one of the very men who donated the land.

He ended up resting in the ground he gave away. The cemetery holds veterans too, men and women who served across the long reach of American conflict. The Civil War.

World War I. World War II. The Korean War.

The Vietnam War. The Persian Gulf War. All of them interred right there at St.

Mary's. A cemetery association formed before 1922, and in the early days members paid dues to keep the grounds up. That practice has since been discontinued, but the cemetery never closed.

It remains open for the burial of parishioners of the Church of the Visitation. Today the Association Board is made up of four church parishioners and the presiding priest. Some things carry forward, and some things quietly change.

But St. Mary's Cemetery stands as the primary resting place for the earliest settlers of Westphalia, and that marker calls it exactly what it is. A symbol of those early pioneers.

The families who crossed an ocean, named a patch of Texas after home, and made sure there would be ground set aside for the ones who came before, and the ones who would follow.

What the marker says

St. Mary's Cemetery was founded in 1883 by German families who had recently settled in the area and named their community "Westphalia," after their German home province. Casper Hoelscher, Frank Wunsch, Theodore Rabroker, J.G. Bockholt and Frank Glass each contributed to the purchase of 100 acres, which were then donated for the establishment of a community school, church, Priest's residence and cemetery. The oldest grave in the cemetery is the 1884 burial of five-year-old Heinrich Bernard Lenz, son of Mr. and Mrs. Fritz Lenz. As with many of the early grave markers in the cemetery, Lenz's is inscribed in German. The oldest graves in the cemetery are located in the northern section of the site. A large metal cross i the north section of the cemetery marks the grave of Theodore Rabroker, Westphalia's first settler, and one of the donors of the cemetery property. Veterans of the Civil War, World War I, World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War and the Persian Gulf War are interred at the site. A cemetery association was formed prior to 1922, and early association members were required to pay dues for cemetery upkeep. Although the practice has been discontinued, the cemetery remains open for the burial of parishioners of the Church of the Visitation. Today, the Association Board consists of four church parishioners and the presiding priest. As the primary resting palce for the earliest settlers of Westphalia, St. Mary's Cemetery remains today as a symbol of these early pioneers. Historic Texas Cemtery - 2008