Calvary Cemetery to host Memorial Day Mass

By RENEE WEBB, Globe editor
May 26, 2005

Keeping with a 40-year tradition, Mass will be offered at Calvary Cemetery on Memorial Day. Msgr. Richard Zenk, executive secretary of the cemetery, will celebrate the outdoor liturgy at 9 a.m. on May 30.

"There are a good number of people throughout the city who attend. I would imagine that many of them have friends or relatives buried there," noted the priest, who also serves as pastor at St. Patrick Church in Akron.

Last year, he recalled that the liturgy drew more than 300 people. That was one of the larger crowds in recent years. Some of those present at the Memorial Day Mass in 2004 came from communities outside of the city. One couple from Tekamah, Neb. commented last year that they had only missed the celebration a few times in 30 years. They have a son and other relatives buried at Calvary.

Msgr. Zenk said the liturgy is a time to remember and pray for veterans who gave their lives for the freedom enjoyed by people in this country. It is also a time to remember and pray for deceased family members, relatives and friends who have died and are buried in the cemetery.

"We have been doing this for the last 40 years - weather permitting," noted Msgr. Zenk.

Although he has been in charge of the cemetery for all of those years, he pointed out that he has not always been the celebrant for the celebration. Through the years, sometimes the bishop has presided at the liturgy and other years the priest chaplain of the Knights of Columbus would celebrate the Mass.

Msgr. Zenk noted that members of the Knights of Columbus have assisted with the Mass through these years. Knights do such things as serve as Eucharistic ministers, hand out missalettes and more.

In addition to remembering the deceased, the celebration is also used as a means to highlight the value of Catholic cemeteries.

Located at 28th and Casselman Streets in Sioux City, land for the cemetery was purchased in 1870 by Father Thomas Gunn while Sioux City was under the administration of Bishop Hennessy of the Diocese of Dubuque. The pioneer priest had gone door-to-door to collect enough money for the first payment on the land. The cemetery was incorporated on Aug. 16, 1913. Sioux City's first settler, Joseph Lonais is buried in the cemetery. His tombstone indicates that he was a fur trapper and Rocky Mountain scout.

The first mausoleum at Calvary was built in the 1900s. The Mausoleum of the Resurrection was completed in 1994.

"We want to impress upon the people the reason we have a Catholic cemetery and let them know that all Catholics are invited to be buried there," said Msgr. Zenk.

Everyone is invited to attend this special Memorial Day Mass to remember the deceased. People are encouraged to bring a lawn chair.