Ceremony to honor Elderville Cemetery

By ANNTOINETTE MOORE
Staff writer

ELDERVILLE — Those with links to the Elderville Cemetery will be able to honor the past and celebrate the future during a restoration and dedication ceremony 3 p.m. Sunday at the cemetery.

The cemetery is located behind Centre Presbyterian Church, at the intersection of Texas 322 and FM 2011.

Sunday's ceremony will honor the memory of Brenda Delyce Wyche, the daughter of Darnell Wyche of Longview and Roger and Charlotte Wyche. The 35-year-old Longview resident died Dec. 27.

The Wyche family raised about $40,000 to rebuild the cemetery's native stone entrance and build a stone and wrought-iron fence around the cemetery. In addition, a bronze memorial plaque honoring Brenda was placed at the entrance to the cemetery.

Brenda's mother, Darnell Wyche of Longview, said the family wanted to honor Brenda by restoring the cemetery.

"We chose to do this because it is something we will have forever. It's something we can give back to the community," she said.

"Without the help and dedication of our wonderful friends this would not have happened," Mrs. Wyche said.

Memorial services Sunday will be led by Dr. Jack Shoultz of Grapeland and members of the Elderville Cemetery Association board: Chairman Dan Lucy, Thomas Adams, Evans Burton, Polly Cocke, Garlough, L.T. Mobbs and Eddie Sammons.

Vera Garlough, historian for the cemetery association, said the cemetery is at least 125 years old. Five generations of Texas families have their resting places there, she said.

"I love it. I have been going there ever since I was a child," Garlough said, adding that she returns for the cemetery's annual homecoming on the first Sunday in June. Her husband, parents, aunts and uncles, grandparents and other relatives all are buried there, she said.

Stone mason Ellis Sutherland was able to blend in pieces of the original native stone with new pieces of stone in rebuilding the cemetery entrance, Garlough said.

"It's the most beautiful thing. It looks historical. It ties in with the community and that little church building," she said.

The Elderville Community dates to the 1850s when early farming families settled there and raised cotton, Garlough said. Many of their descendants still live in the area and attend Centre Presbyterian Church.

The cemetery association holds memorial funds in trust to maintain the cemetery grounds and facilities. Donations to the cemetery are welcomed, she said.

For information about the cemetery or the ceremony, call Garlough at 663-1070.