Tag: Marie-Louise Kehoe

Friends of the Old Village Cemetery on Village Avenue in Dedham, MA gather to honor the more than 100 Revolutionary War soldiers buried or memorialized there.

Remembering Dedham’s veterans on the nation’s 250th Anniversary

by DVPA, posted in Old Village Cemetery

The 250th Anniversary of this Country is an ideal time to remember the Veterans from Dedham who gave their full measure to win the Freedom and Democracy we celebrate this year. The number of soldiers from Dedham who fought in the Revolution, including the outlying Parishes, is over 600 according to A List of Revolutionary Soldiers Who Served Dedham in the Revolution, 1775-1783 published in 1917 by the Dedham Historical Society (Now the Dedham Museum and Archive).

Over 100 of these honored dead are interred or memorialized in the Old Village Cemetery on Village Avenue, one of America’s most ancient Colonial Cemeteries. Men like Ebenezer Paul who marched under the command of Captain Aaron Fuller and helped to build the fortifications on Dorchester Heights from which the cannons placed by Col. Henry Knox forced the British to evacuate Boston; women like Rebecca Whiting Guild, daughter of Revolutionary War veteran Joseph Whiting, who, as a young girl knitted socks for the soldiers of the Revolution, and at 90 for the men going off to the Civil War. The Old Village Cemetery is the final resting place for many of Dedham’s most prominent citizens. The ground for the Cemetery was set aside in 1636, the year that the Town was incorporated, which means that in 10 years both will celebrate a 400th birthday.

For the past 9 years the Dedham Village Preservation Association has been working in cooperation with Joe Flanagan, Director of the Dedham DPW, to repair and restore sites within the Cemetery that were in danger of being lost. This year, with a generous grant from the Dedham Savings Community Foundation, we are planning to restore the eroding plot of the Farrington Family, which contributed importantly to the Town’s historic legacy. The Old Village Cemetery is one of Dedham’s most visited historic resources for tourists and genealogists, and a gem in the rich panoply of Dedham’s important place in American History.

Giving Tuesday is November 28, 2023

by DVPA, posted in Old Village Cemetery

As the year ends and Giving Tuesday is November 28, please consider a gift to the Dedham Village Preservation Association on behalf of the Old Village Cemetery Restoration under the direction of Marie Louise Kehoe and her Committee, and Joe Flanagan, Director of the Dedham DPW. 

We’re hoping to build an endowment to ensure that the Old Village Cemetery, one of the most important Colonial burial grounds in America, will be maintained in perpetuity. We need your help — thank you.  

To donate, please fill out the form on our donation page, or mail to Dedham Village Preservation Association, Inc., POB 1037, Dedham, MA 02027

Summer 2022 Update

by DVPA, posted in Old Village Cemetery

Summer is upon us, and we are excited to see the new Sugar Maples and Crab Apple Trees in the Old Village Cemetery blooming along Village Avenue.

Lots of improvements have taken place in the Cemetery as the restoration moves ahead under the direction of Joe Flanagan, Director of the Dedham DPW, and the Dedham Village Preservation Association, Inc. The ironwork of the Howe plot (AX132 on the Town map of the Cemetery) has been replicated and installed by Wovensteel, Inc., of East Boston, manufacturer of distinctive ironwork. The Howe plot was the most seriously distressed grave in the OVC, involving the removal of invasive trees, foundation issues, and the repair and replication of ironwork. The work was paid for in part by a generous grant from the Dedham Savings Community Foundation.

Work to restore the Old Village Cemetery continues with the installation of replicated ironwork for the Howe plot on Village Avenue. More plots are scheduled for restoration this year.

Left to right: Said Naciri, lead welder for Wovensteel, Inc. of East Boston; Ted Russell, President of the DVPA, Inc.; Marie Louise Kehoe, Chairman of the OVC Restoration Committee; Daniel Gebrenedhin, fabricator; José Gutierrez, shop foreman; and Joe Flanagan, Director of the Dedham DPW.

Our agenda is to continue to clean and repair gravestones, and to reclaim endangered sites, using existing materials wherever possible. Our feeling is that this is an ancient cemetery, and part of its charm and authenticity is its weathered, centuries-old look. Our goal is to ensure that it is safe for the many tourists that visit every year, and that its rich Dedham history is preserved.

Giving Tuesday and Year End Plea

by DVPA, posted in Old Village Cemetery

As the year ends and Giving Tuesday is today, please consider a gift to the Dedham Village Preservation Association on behalf of the Old Village Cemetery Restoration under the direction of Marie Louise Kehoe and her Committee, and Joe Flanagan, Director of the Dedham DPW. 

We’re hoping to complete the work in 2024 and build an endowment to ensure that the Old Village Cemetery, one of the most important Colonial burial grounds in America, will be maintained in perpetuity. We need your help — please dig deep and thank you.  

To donate, please fill out the form on our donation page, or mail to Dedham Village Preservation Association, Inc., POB 1037, Dedham, MA 02027

Summer 2021 Cemetery Update

by DVPA, posted in Old Village Cemetery, Stone Restoration

Summer, 2021, is here, and with it the continuing restoration of the Old Village Cemetery by the Town of Dedham DPW and the Dedham Village Preservation Association, Inc. resumes. This is our third year of implementing the Halvorson Design Master Plan, and much of the worst deterioration has been addressed or scheduled by Joe Flanagan, Director of the DDPW, and his crew. With that said, there is still much to be done. Kevin Duffy and David Ray will continue to repair and clean monuments. This work, which has been ongoing for the past three years, requires patience and expertise to assure that the stones suffer no further damage.

This Summer, thanks to your generous support, we will be able to begin restoring some of the individual plots that are especially at risk. The first on Joe’s schedule is the Howe plot abutting Village Avenue. Last year the two large Hemlocks which had overgrown the plot were removed in preparation for stonework, replicated and restored iron work, and landscaping. This Spring, we added a new line of trees along Village Avenue as part of creating a welcoming and peaceful experience for the hundreds of yearly visitors from all over the world who come in search of family history, as well as for local residents. At the bottom of the Cemetery, abutting Martin Bates St. is a naturally occurring vernal pool. If our budget permits, we are hoping to develop this area into a nature-fed “Rain Garden” that would add a reflective water feature to the serenity and verdancy that we are hoping to achieve as part of the Cemetery’s rebirth.

While the community has responded generously to our project, we still urgently need donations to repair severe erosive deterioration. It is our hope that in the not too distant future, we will be able to transcend into a program of maintenance as required, and to build on our small endowment fund to assure that future costs can be met in perpetuity.

Take a walk through the Cemetery and witness firsthand our work in progress. We think you will be as excited as we are to see this ancient and hallowed ground reawakening to continue to play its critical role in Dedham history.

Spring Planting

by DVPA, posted in Old Village Cemetery

In April the Dedham Department of Public Works planted a line of Sugar Maple saplings, bracketed by blossoming Crab Apples, along Village Avenue. More trees and shrubs appropriate to a Colonial Cemetery will be added, this year, as part of the master landscaping plan.

Photo above: Joe Flanagan, Director of the Dedham DPW, and Marie Louise Kehoe, Chairman of the Dedham Village Preservation Assoc., Inc’s Friends of the Old Village Cemetery Committee, admire one of the new saplings, Crab Apple and Sugar Maple trees, planted along the Village Avenue abuttal. Shown in the background is Sisi, Marie Louise’s seven month old Australian Labradoodle pup, granted a 20 minute exemption by Joe from the OVC ban on dogs.

Happy Holidays

by DVPA, posted in Old Village Cemetery

The Dedham Village Preservation Assoc., Inc. (501(c)3) and the Town of Dedham gratefully thank all the generous donors who are helping us restore the Old Village Cemetery, one of America’s oldest and most significant Colonial burial grounds. With your help, we are making great progress!

Happy Holidays, and wishing you a healthy and productive 2020.

Marie Louise Kehoe, Chairman
Joseph Flanagan, Director, Dedham DPW

Giving Tuesday 2019

by DVPA, posted in Old Village Cemetery

I’d like to personally thank you for your continued support of Dedham’s Old Village Cemetery. Renovation is well underway with the continued cleaning of headstones, removal of dead or overgrown trees, and the installation of handsome new gates at the entrance on Village Avenue. If you haven’t been by the cemetery recently, I’d encourage you to do so, though there is much work yet to be done.

We are bringing Dedham’s history back to life.

Today, on Giving Tuesday, a national day of giving that kicks off the charitable season, I’d like to ask that you make a gift of any size to the Old Village Cemetery.

You can donate here.

We have ambitious plans to return the cemetery to its former glory, ensuring that it will continue to be a treasured historic landmark in Dedham – today and in perpetuity. We can do this with your help!

Many thanks for your consideration.

Happy holidays!

Marie Louise Kehoe

Marie Louise Kehoe’s Letter of Thanks

by DVPA, posted in Old Village Cemetery

I want to thank the more than 200 guests who attended the Gravedigger’s Gala on Friday night at the Endicott Estate to benefit the renovation of the Old Village cemetery. I had a wonderful time, and it looked as if everybody else did too, and that was our objective during the many months of planning that went into the event. I am so grateful to the gala Committee for the hard work and dedication that they unselfishly gave on behalf of a cause that has been close to my heart for many years. To Co-chairs Darcy Lane and Maureen Joyce, thank you for your inspired leadership, and to Jonathon Briggs, Anne Cadigan, Nancy Clement, Tracy Driscoll, Joe Flanagan, Michele Heffernan, Mary Louise Kehoe, Jeannine Lathum, Johanna McBrien, Glenn McGibbon, and Ted Russell, thank you for the many talents that you contributed to the planning of an evening of hair-raising good fun. A special thanks to Jim Bride for his tantalizing video promos at the Community Theater that brought the Gravedigger’s Ghost to life after death, and, of course, to Dedham DPW Director, Joe Flanagan, who has been charged with the daunting task of resurrecting the dead, and whose hard work has made this three-year project possible. Joe’s steady hand has guided the work from the beginning, and is everywhere in evidence throughout the Cemetery, from the handsome Village Avenue entrances, to the newly repaired monuments and headstones. And, I am so grateful to the Dedham Visionary Access Corporation, community TV at its best, Executive Director, Donna Greer, and her creative staff, Brian, Dennis, and George, for their coverage prior to, and during, the Gala.

A delightful surprise during the evening was the presentation by State Representative, Paul McMurtry, and State Senator, Mike Rush of a check for $150,000 from the State to the Dedham Village Preservation Association, Inc., the 501(c)3 that is funding this project. I also want to thank those who contributed in-kind to our success: the New England Patriots, the Calgary Flames, Bellestar Jewelry, Horizon Aviation, Bartlett Tree Experts, Jim Bride, Molly Jackson, Nancy Sargent Howell, the Dedham Community Theater, Murph’s Place, Big Bear, Ron’s Ice Cream, Café Tremezzo, King’s Dining & Entertainment, Boston’s Dreamland Wax Museum, Bostonia Public House, Total Wine, Dr. Anna Vishart, DDS, Horizon Beverage Co., M.S. Walker, Inc., Wegman’s, Photographer, Kerry Hawkins, and the artists who contributed their imaginative decorations to the Gravedigger’s shovels: Carol Haggerty, Peter Reynolds, Diane Gaikazova, Wiley Holton, Liz Boston, Sal D’Antona, and rali Weaver…and, finally to Madame Dar-see, whose imaginative flights of fancy into the future bode good things for Dedham and for the Old Village Cemetery Restoration Project. Thank you all, the work continues, and we look forward to seeing you, again, next year.

Sincerely,

Marie Louise Kehoe, Project Chairman

Photo credit: Kerry Hawkins