Welcome to "Grave Finder At St.Stan's"!
Through my image locator, you will be able to find photos & information regarding lost friends or relatives & their final resting places. The search feature allows you to submit a query by last name or date of birth or date of death. I display all of the information that I’ve compiled, including multiple photos of a grave site-plot, location, date deceased, military service if any, and any possible alternative or Americanized spellings of the name. The information from my index does NOT coordinate with the official St Stanislaus map. I have created my own maps that do coordinate with my index. In many instances, I have REVERSED LINES IN ORDER to make FINDING STONES EASIER! My maps are intended to exactly find GRAVESTONES. WHEN POSSIBLE, I will indicate where a burial is located that does not have a stone by the following number, example: 3+. That tells you to count 3 stones the next empty spot to stone #3 is the 3+ spot. In some cases, there could be a large area in the line without stones and several people in the line would be listed as 3+. This means that burial is before the 4th stone. Paces are indicated when there are few stones standing to use as a guide in locating lines. Paces are found on the old side of the cemetery. They may indicate how many steps from the road or how many steps in between stones in order for you to follow a straight line. On the old side, after decades of rain, mud and smaller gravestones stones have moved downhill. Along with the stones that have fallen over falling the only person who can truly tell you where bodies are buried is David Szyjka the Cemetery Dirctor. Therefore, after spending months in each and every section if I can’t find where a burial is located I have NOT LISTED a line number. You will find on the search the first VISIBLE surname on the line. You will find the line number COORDINATED with MY MAPS, (again not ST STANS MAPS). The total number of stones in each line is listed. Next I tell you the number in the line where the stone is that you are looking for if possible. The office secretaries cannot help you with my index, but If it’s easier, you can go to the office and they can assist you with their filing system. I welcome you to enjoy & share this Guide and Resource.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of the people that helped to make this project possible. Edward Kornowski, a P.G.S. member, David Szyjka, the Director of St. Stanislaus Cemetery allowed this project to happen. David’s secretaries, Julie and Joanne, for their patience and time searching dates. The cemetery workers hard work keeping up the grounds helped me to take great pictures. Doug Nichy, my I.T. person, who taught me Excel and kept my computer running. Lillia Biszko Leszczynski spent many hours translating my Cyrillic stone’s. Dolores Ferguson a member of the P.G.S. (Polish Genealogy Society) helped me with Polish translations. Maureen Gleason, a P.G.S. member, spent many hours in the cemetery brainstorming. Sharon Umiker, Bonnie Luce, Steve Cornelius and Greg Wadsworth from the Maple Rd. L.D.S. Family Research Center; all of these people are dedicated researchers who have all shared their experience while brainstorming, and helped to keep my spirit positive. JB Thomas gave me encouragement and advice about creating a website. Jackie Choninski for her valued tech support. A Thank you to my family Zachary Ruppert, Jaxon Conlon, Paul Noreck and to little Ethan Nichy who calls me Aunt. A big thank-you to family members for their understanding of the huge amount of hours I have spent over many years at St. Stan’s Cemetery creating this project. Lastly, to Rick Dombkiewicz who took my vision and turned my index into a searchable website. Rick spent many daunting hours creating the codes needed to take my data and create this searchable website. Thanks to ALL!