Jenidean Readey was ecstatic to look around the large crowd that gathered at the New Florence Cemetery 150th Anniversary Rededication Ceremony on Oct. 1.

Over 40 people attended the two-hour event that was held at the cemetery and the Old Settlers Picnic Grounds. The celebration included a proclamation that was given by State Rep. Jeff Porter and a musical performance from Greg Widner.

“It was fantastic,” said Readey, who is a member of the cemetery’s perpetual care board. “I was glad to see the crowd that we had.”

One of Readey’s daughters, Brittany Brewer, was part of that crowd. Brewer came from Kansas City to visit her mother and attend the cemetery’s celebration. Readey lost her other daughter, Valerie Neudecker, to cancer on Sept. 29.

“It was nice to have a companion here,” Readey said. “It’s kind of hard to lose my daughter. She made us promise to live our lives, so this is very near and dear to me because I want to make sure that with my mom and dad and my relatives buried, this cemetery is always mowed and being kept. For her to come to participate with me means a lot.”

The cemetery was opened in 1872, when Thomas Jefferson Powell and wife, Mary Margaret, sold over five acres to the board of trustees. A trust association was formed in 1963, focusing on perpetual care.

Kelly Widner, who has been posting information of the cemetery on social media, said she found some other interesting facts about the cemetery.

“The entrance was improved in 1898 and there were 20 trees standing along the border,” Widner said. “A permanent cornerstone was placed here in 1908. The pagoda was ordered to be built in 1909 and it was finished in 1920. A new fence was built in 1920. Another thing that was interesting was in 1920 and 1921, there were some sheets that were put here to get rid of the prairie grass, the wild roses and the weeds.”

There were some improvements made at the cemetery before the ceremony. In May, a new entrance sign was built and was donated by John Stambaugh and Charles Knight and a new 600-foot gravel road was built by Glenn “Crash” Bartlett just south of the cemetery.

Readey credits Widner and Cathy Powell Nickens, another perpetual board member, for helping make those improvements.

“We needed those fresh faces,” Ready said. “Those two have been wonderful in helping us redirect and to start making our improvements.”

Also, the cemetery ran a fundraising campaign for stone repairs.

“All of the donations have been pretty well overwhelming,” Widner said. “I know I was surprised with a lot of the donations to get the headstones. People asked about the headstones a lot. The donations have been amazing. Everybody should feel part of the community.”

Darlene Gerken and son, Daryl, donated an American flag to the cemetery. Darlene sat next to the flagpole during the presentation of the proclamation.

“She said on Memorial weekend that she wanted to do it, so we picked it up this week so it can be here for the dedication,” Powell Nickens said.

Several people got to share their memories of their loved ones who are buried at the cemetery. One of them is Mary Worley, whose grandparents, Jim and Hazel Butner, are buried there.

“I thought every kid who grew up had grandparents like mine,” Worley said. “Unfortunately, from the results I found out, that wasn’t true. But it made me want to grow up and be a grandma like her. Grandpa had the most beautiful croquet court in all of Montgomery County. On sunny afternoons, everybody would be in grandpa’s yard under the big shade tree playing croquet.”

Readey has numerous relatives who are buried at the cemetery.

“My mom and dad are buried here,” said Readey, who created a presentation that gave the cemetery’s history and the people who are buried there. “My dad’s parents are buried here. Two of his brothers and his twin sisters are buried here. My grandmother’s parents are buried here.”