The above questions are very appropriate in terms of current discussions going on at Newark City Council about a new mausoleum at the city-owned Cedar Hill Cemetery.

The word, "cemetery" is of Greek origin and means "resting place." So, in the simplest terms, a cemetery is a place where we "put to rest" the human remains of our loved ones, friends and fellow citizens. Additionally, cemeteries have profound significance in terms of religion, patriotism, local history and certainly personal sentiment.

Of the some 35,000 internments and entombments in the Cedar Hill Cemetery, almost everyone of them was done with the involvement of religious ceremony. Many of the monuments in the cemetery carry religious symbols, and the place resonates with the deeply held religious beliefs about eternity.

Cemeteries are also patriotic places where we honor those who have rendered military service to our nation, especially war veterans. The Cedar Hill Cemetery, for example, provides special sections for the burial of veterans. Further, all veterans' graves in the cemetery are indicated by metal markers, which at certain times hold American flags.

The Cedar Hill Cemetery is the site for Newark's annual Memorial Day observance, at which we commemorate veterans.

A cemetery is also a repository of local history. At Cedar Hill are buried the previous generations, who, by endeavors great and small, brought our community to the place where it is today. We are the collective recipients of their labors in terms of the physical fabric of the town and its culture and economy.

Finally, a cemetery is a place about which there are strongly held personal sentiments. Some of the deepest human emotions are associated with the site where we place the human remains of the people closest to us in life. The intense grief felt at the time of a death usually subsides, but most people continue to feel strong emotional ties with the site where their relatives and friends have been buried.

Obviously, a cemetery is a place of definite significance and meaning. But the further question is why the city of Newark -- as a municipality -- owns and operates a cemetery. The answer is that providing a cemetery facility is one of the traditional services that cities offer their citizens. Historically, Newark provided a cemetery before it ever was able to provide comprehensive water and sewer services, paved streets and other benefits.

With that in mind, I would argue that the city needs to fulfill its promise to provide a new mausoleum at the Cedar Hill Cemetery. This project has been beset with unforeseen difficulties, from which we now need to move beyond.

I would not personally want to be entombed, but for some that is their specific choice in terms of the future disposition of their remains. Because of the profound religious, patriotic, historic and emotional significance of the Cedar Hill Cemetery, that option needs to be there for the citizens of our community.

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