On December 1, 1889, Calvary Cemetery was blessed and formally dedicated as a Diocesan Cemetery "pro civitate Seattleensi et Suburbanis locis" by Fr. Louis Schram, the Vicar General for Bishop Junger of the Diocese of Nesqually in the Territory of Washington. Since that time nearly 40,000 people have been buried in Calvary Cemetery. 

Strolling the 40 acre grounds of Calvary Cemetery is reveals the rich tapestry that is the Catholic Community of Seattle, both past and present. Many pioneer loggers belonged to the fraternal organization "Woodsmen of the World." On a number of their memorials and monuments which you can see throughout the cemetery, is their motto: "Dum tacit, clamat." That is: "While he is silent, he shouts." Our Cemetery is a sacred space, a place of prayer and quite reflection. Yet, it also invites us to remember all those "who have gone now before us marked with the sign of faith" and are now buried here. 

To walk on the grounds of our cemetery is to hear their lives shout to us from their past. Each from the youngest to the oldest had a life worth loving and remembering: 

• When Saigon fell in 1975, Maria Nguyen Thi Lieu was standing on the roof of the U.S. Embassy. Her son worked with the U.S. government, and there was space for him on the helicopters which were desperately rushing people to safety. Yet, there wasn't room for his mother and father, and he wasn't going if they couldn't join him. She demanded he leave them, and under her insistence, he went without them. His mother was a hero that day, just as she had been before when her husband, a colonel in the South Vietnamese forces, was taken prisoner by the North. At that time, she traveled north, rescued him, and since he was wounded, she carried him on her back, hiding during the day and traveling at night until they were safely in the South. Maria died in 1994, and now, she rests close to others who fought in another North/South conflict. 

• There is John Till who served with Company E of the 9th Illinois Volunteers and who was wounded twice, once at Fort Donaldson and later at Corinth, and there is the Confederate Aloysius Harker who rode with the First Maryland Cavalry from 1863 to 1865. 

They join many others who fought and struggled on both sides of that bloody conflict. A few of those include: 

• Thomas Horan of Co. C, 15th Illinois Infantry, 

• Lieut. Lambert Weiss of Co. C, 26th Wisconsin Infantry, 

• Thomas H. Sullivan of Co. L, 12th New York Calvary, 

• Patrick McNamee of the Federal Navy, and 

• James Doyle of the 35th Iowa Regiment. 

Today, they share a common place with Private Ernest Willison who died fighting in France in 1918 and with John Burns, a veteran of the Spanish-American War, the Philippine Insurrection and the Boxer Rebellion in China and with Adolp Walter, who in 1904 rescued 15 people from a burning steamer, the "General Slocum," off Long Island, New York. They lie here with Fr. Boulet who worked as a missionary to the Native Americans and Fr. Prefontaine who in 1869 established the first Catholic parish in Seattle. They, like Mary Godfrey whose cow would graze in a sleepy glade that is now downtown Seattle, are all buried in Calvary Cemetery. 

• Lieutenant Governor John A. Cherberg (1910-1992) 

• Rear Admiral W. J. Thomson (1844-1909) 

• Major General Clarance B. Blethen (1879-1941) of the Seattle Times Blethen Family 

• Alaskan Railroad Builder Michael J. "Moose" Heney (1864-1910) 

• Teamster President Dave Beck (1894-1993) 

• Italian Composer & Patriot (knighted Cavalier for his actions) Paolo Giorza (1830-1914) 

• Pioneer Seattle Industrialist William Piggot, founder of Pacific Car & Foundry 

• Discalced Carmelite Nuns of the Order of Our Blessed Lady of Mount Carmel 

• Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart 

• Religious of the Sacred Heart of Jesus 

• Sisters of the Good Shepherd 

• Sisters of Providence 

• Sisters of St. Dominic, Congregation of Holy Cross (the Edmonds Dominicans) 

• Brothers of Our Lady of Lourdes 

• The Redemptorist Fathers and Brothers 

• Fathers of the Society of St. Sulpice 

Making cemetery decisions can be a great additional burden, when left to the surviving family members. In fact, the death of a loved one is a tragic experience that will visit all of our families at some future time.

Most families will find themselves ill prepared to deal with the problems, indecision's and costs which are forced upon them by death. Your Catholic Cemetery is here for you, to assist in making these decisions, hopefully long before the time of need. Of course, pre-arrangement makes good economic sense, but the most compelling reason to plan now, is the love you have for your family, and your desire to protect them from any unnecessary hardship at a time of sorrow. 

If these are your thoughts and feelings, why not inquire of your Catholic Cemetery, how you can take care of all cemetery costs in advance.