Whitefish considers new cemetery

With no room left at its 93-year-old cemetery, the city of Whitefish is taking the first step to create new burial grounds for the resort town.

The Whitefish City Council on Tuesday will vote on a resolution establishing a seven-member cemetery committee that would evaluate possible locations and development of a new city cemetery.

An area above the Whitefish River near the Rocksund Trail footbridge was mentioned as a potential site during the Jan. 3 council meeting. Mayor Mike Jenson said the county is willing to donate an access road and  private money exists to pay for the development. The project could include setting aside land for “naturalized” burials.

The current cemetery, located just east of the Whitefish Lake Golf Course, contains 3,079 lots and 184 crematory sites, all of which are sold and privately owned. The city has a waiting list for people who would like to purchase a lot or site, should any become available, according to Whitefish City Manager Chuck Stearns.

Lots that have been purchased and not used can’t be resold to another private party but can be relinquished to the city for resale.

The cemetery was established by city resolution in 1917. The community raised money to buy the $675 site from the Whitefish Land Co.

The first push for a Whitefish cemetery was mentioned in the Whitefish Pilot in 1905, and over the years that followed, several committees were appointed to check out suitable sites, according to “Stump Town to Ski Town” by Betty Schafer and Mable Engelter.

Until the cemetery was opened in 1918, “Whitefish citizens buried their dead in Kalispell or Columbia Falls, in the woods or event in back yards,” the two historians wrote.

The city annexed the cemetery into the city in 1979. The Whitefish Lake Golf Course maintains the cemetery as part of its lease agreement with the city.

City land east of Whitefish that’s now used as a city airstrip originally was purchased for a cemetery addition but was never used for that, the “Stump Town” book notes.

Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or by e-mail at lhintze@dailyinterlake.com.