St. Johannes Cemetery Revisited

My November 7-10, 2011 posts focused on the relocation of St. Johannes Cemetery. Following the November 10, 2011 ceremony of Christian and Millizena Duntemann, I received a phone call from the City of Chicago. They had located another grave. This unmarked grave belonged to Herbert J. Sheldon and I was his closest known relative. Thanks to a plaque on this coffin, his remains could be identified.

Herbert married Eveline Duntemann, granddaughter of Christian and Millizena. Herbert was my great, great uncle. His remains were located in a plot that had belonged to the Franzen Family. This connection seems logical as Eveline’s parents were Frederick Duntemann and Mary Franzen. Today Herbert J. Sheldon was re interred in Eden Memorial Park located at 9851 Irving Park Road, Schiller Park, Illinois. May he rest in peace.

 

Christian and Millizena Duntemann

On Thursday, November 10, 2011, Johann Carl Christian Duntemann and Millizena Duntemann nee Erdmann and an unknown angel were re-interred. Burial took place at the Town of Maine Cemetery, Park Ridge, Illinois. Representatives of the City of Chicago were present. Pastor Virginia Ericson of Christ Church, Des Plaines, Illinois led the family in prayer.

While my first choice would have been to keep the cemetery in place, I must admit that everything was done respectfully.

Fresh Eyes

In my last post, Laura Cosgrove Lorenzana reminded me of what I have to be grateful for. Yes, the final resting places of many are being disturbed. Yet she reminds me that the process is being conducted in a thoughtful and responsible manner.

One of my favorite sayings is “You Don’t Know What You Don’t Know.”  Bill Dickerson of the Las Vegas Institute introduced me to this thought. I don’t know if it is an original Bill Dickerson statement, but I credit him nonetheless. He is a very smart man who knows how to challenge the intellect. So what have I learned?

I have learned that the City of Chicago hired The Louis Berger Group to oversee the movement of the cemetery. A visit to their website, http://www.louisberger.com, leaves me speechless. The Louis Berger Group is on the forefront of world happenings. Should you view their featured projects, you will see St. Johannes Cemetery of Du Page County, Illinois along with all their worldwide projects! Okay, Chicago. I thank you.

The Chicago Department of Aviation created a website, http://www.stjohnsfamilyassistance.com. It has everything you need. The website gives information about the cemetery, the latest news, testimonials, FAQs and the location of all monuments and markers. Could one ask for more?

I learned that the Martha Ibbetson Chapter of the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution meets the first Friday of the month and that Joan Cosgrove is their Regent. This information may suggest kinship between Joan Cosgrove and Laura Cosgrove Lorenzana. Most importantly, I am grateful to these dedicated women who indexed St. Johannes Cemetery. Their efforts will help preserve the history and memory of what once was. Thank you to Laura for the translation of the German headstones.

This evening I received a phone call from one of my newfound Duntemann relatives. She told me that remains of a third person were found in the grave. They believe the remains are those of Christian and Millizena Duntemann’s daughter, Laura. They found earrings with her remains. She will be interred with her parents.

Can anyone ask for more? I am truly humbled by the care given my residents of St. Johannes Cemetery. I suspect every resident was treated with equal care and respect.

Laura Cosgrove Lorenzana gave me the gift of Fresh Eyes. This the ability to look at issues thoroughly and from all perspectives.

With Gratitude,

Linda

You Can't Stop Progress

St. Johannes Cemetery has been front and center in the battle over the 

O’Hare International Airport Expansion Project. This 160 year-old cemetery is home to 1,200 graves. [1]

German immigrants settled the lands of Du Page County just northwest of the City of Chicago. They were farmers. My great, great, great grandparents were part of this immigrant group.  As this small community grew so did the need for a place of worship. St. Johannes Church was built.  Soon the need for a cemetery presented itself and St. Johannes Cemetery was created.

You can’t stop progress! A small airport, Orchard Place, was in need of expansion. The church sold land to the City of Chicago for the airport expansion. In 1952 St. Johannes Church was picked up and moved to the community of Bensenville. Orchard Place Airport received a new name. O’Hare Airport had arrived! The cross in the cemetery marks the location of the original church.[2]

This is a very long and complicated story involving many court battles. The airport continued growing and eventually surrounded this tiny cemetery. Today O’Hare International Airport is in the final stages of its expansion project. On October 28, 2011 Chicago’s ABC News reported the exhumation of the 900 graves. [3]

Johann Carl Christian Duntemann passed away on 13 June 1863. His wife, Millizena Duntemann nee Erdmann,  passed away on 30 December 1896. It is likely their remains are not intact. Christian and Millizena Duntemann will be reinterred November 10, 2011. I wonder where my great, great, great grandparents graves are right now.

You just can’t stop progress!

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[1] Johnson, Geoffrey, “Dead Reckoning,” Chicago, October 2009, 58-65.

[2] Ibid.

[3] “Report: 900 Graves exhumed for O’Hare Runway,” WLS-TV/DT, 28 October 2011; e-news

(http://www.abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=news/local&id=8409281 : accessed 6 November 2011.)