Volunteers install new fencing at Hope Cemetery as part of ongoing preservation and improvement efforts aimed at honoring the cemetery’s history while ensuring its care for future generations. The original entrance to Hope Cemetery has been carefully preserved, maintaining a visible connection to the site’s history and the generations it serves.
Tom Dean and Darrell Deneke review a beautifully handwritten cemetery record book from the 1880s.
Through many hours of hands-on work, Larry Powell has been instrumental in helping preserve and maintain Hope Cemetery for future generations.
Darrell Deneke and other volunteers with the Hope Cemetery Association work together to install a new perimeter fence at Hope Cemetery.
An original Hope Cemetery record book’s carefully preserved pages documents the cemetery’s founding, early membership rolls, land transactions, and handwritten notes dating back to the late 19th century.
On a quiet rise west of Wessington Springs, volunteers recently installed a new fence around Hope Cemetery, an improvement meant to address safety concerns, wind damage, and the ceaseless wear of time.But for those doing the work, the fence represents far more than posts and rails.“It’s such a community cemetery,” said Darrell Deneke, president of the Hope Cemetery Associati...
