Calvary Cemetery (Cleveland)
Calvary Cemetery is a Roman Catholic cemetery in Cleveland, Ohio, in the United States. The cemetery straddles the border between Cleveland and the city of Garfield Heights, with its offices within the city limits of Cleveland. Calvary Cemetery is the largest Catholic cemetery in Cleveland, and one of the largest in Ohio.
Calvary Cemetery
November 26, 1893
Private
275 acres (1,110,000 m2)
300,000 (2017)
Memorials[edit]
A large memorial angel atop a pedestal inscribed "Our Babies" was dedicated on November 2, 1952, in what is now section 105 of the cemetery. This section was then set aside for the burial of infants and children. The news media did not identify the sculptor or manufacturer.[23]
In 1966, the cemetery opened a new section (now identified as Section 43) near the E. 100th Street entrance. This section was dedicated to in-ground, flat headstones typical of lawn cemeteries. Overlooking the section, the cemetery constructed a grotto and placed a life-size terracotta statue of Christ in the niche. The manufacturer of the statue was not identified by the press.[24]
A statue of Our Lady, Queen of Heaven was erected at the E. 100th Street entrance of Calvary Cemetery in 2001. The statue was paid for by the Lausche Foundation and dedicated to the memory Senator Frank Lausche.[25]
After the Diocese of Cleveland closed or merged more than 75 parishes between 2006 and 2010, several works of art were moved to Calvary Cemetery. After St. Hyacinth Church closed in September 2009, its monument to Catholic war veterans was moved to the entrance of Calvary Cemetery.[26] St. Margaret of Hungary Church originally was located in Cleveland's Buckeye–Shaker neighborhood. In 1960, parishioners erected a life-size statuary group to honor church members who had died in World War II. The group featured a crucified Christ, three women, and two angels. The sculptures were set on brick and concrete pedestals, with a bronze plaque attached to the main pedestal. When St. Margaret of Hungary Church moved to Orange, Ohio, in 1989, the statue group was relocated as well. The church closed in November 2009, and the diocese removed the statuary group a month later.[26] Initially, the diocese intended to disperse the statuary group among several cemeteries. After months of discussion with former St. Margaret parishioners, the diocese agreed to reinstall the complete grouping near the cemetery's 116th Street entrance, where many World War II dead are buried. The cost of the installation was $30,000 ($0 in 2023 dollars), and the memorial rededicated in mid-September 2010.[27]