Prairie View Cemetery, southwest of Paullina, is running out of land. There are a few burial plots left and nearby land is simply not available, according to Cemetery Board member Rich Frerk. Thus, the members of the board of directors, composed of Frerk, Clerk Bob Faust, Loren Johannsen and Rich Jalas, thought together and finally proposed the option of installing columbariums.
Columbariums are permanent places where the remains of loved ones should be permanently placed but requiring much less land. A coffin and a vault are not necessary. The remains of a loved one are received from the funeral home/crematorium in a chosen urn and may be kept at the local cemetery to be visited, celebrated and memorialized.
The Paullina project has been running for over a year. The two granite columbariums were installed at Prairie View Cemetery on Wednesday, April 30. The resting places were brought to Paullina from Centralia, WA and placed on a geometric cement slab installed by Dave Koehlmoos Construction.
The cemetery council chose the Somerset model. At Paullina, the round granite display units with black granite fronts each offer 64 niches. Prairie View Cemetery now has two 64-unit columbariums, for a total of 128 niches. Each niche can ensure a permanence for two urns. Prairie View Cemetery now has 256 permanent places newly available for eternal rest. The family service monument company can engrave as it would a stone or a monument.
Prices for a single niche range from $400 to $700. More information is available from a cemetery board member or your local funeral service provider.
