The cemetery will be 125 years old in November 2023.

It is a privately owned cemetery purchased by Meridianite Jay Crane in 2017. If Jay had not purchased the cemetery when he did, it would have likely gone into receivership.

Owners of privately owned cemeteries are required by law to put 15% of grave sales and 5% of mausoleum sales into a perpetual care fund. This fund is audited and controlled by many regulations. Jay Crane is compliant with these regulations.  

There is a fairly large sum in this regulated Magnolia Cemetery perpetual care fund at this time. The value fluctuates based on the growth of investments and new grave sales. Only the interest or growth of these funds may be used in perpetual care without special permission from regulators for an approved capital or special improvement. The interest or growth on these funds barely yields enough revenue to maintain grass-cutting and trimming. It is not even close to being enough to repair and resurface the roads.  However, owner Jay Crane has recently been granted permission for a  one-time sum of $100,00 to be used from the perpetual care fund to be used exclusively for road repairs.   This will help our effort a great deal.

If we are successful in raising the needed funds, the roads will be brought back to a standard suitable for a community cemetery where over 15,000 of our friends and family are buried. If we do not raise the needed funds, little is expected to change. The advisory board will spend every penny raised on improving cemetery roads, getting the most for your money.

If we raise money beyond the road repair/resurfacing costs, we will attempt to make other improvements, including security cameras, tree trimming/removal, and repairing very old grave markers that are in disrepair.

All donations go through the community foundation, also overseen by its own local board of directors. You can learn more by going to CFEM.org. We have created a "spend down fund". The community foundation charges 4% for its services, including managing donations, providing tax receipts, and accounting and auditing functions. They will also pay all bills directly for asphalt and other services as directed by our advisory board.