The pathway through the historic Salem Pioneer Cemetery is nearly pristine. Still, whenever longtime volunteer Elisabeth Potter comes across a stray stick or rose cutting, she picks it up and carries it with her to drop in the proper pile.It’s been nearly 40 years since she helped found Friends of Pioneer Cemetery, a volunteer group which works to preserve and beautify the final resting place of pioneers, veterans of the War of 1812, early founders of the state and more. It’s also where Salem holds its annual QingMing festival honoring Chinese ancestors. The history is etched into the tombstones, and the south Salem property itself. Its location on a raised hill overlooks what was once a gold rush trail, Potter said, now Southeast Commercial Street and busy with cars. The heart-shaped road within the cemetery’s original five-acre plot is practical rather than symbolic, curved so wagons could turn and park.  Pioneer Cemetery has a 170-year history, and for decades it has enjoyed stewardship from a group of about 15 dedicated volunteers who repair and clean graves, maintain heritage roses and keep the history alive through walking tours. The work is in partnership with the city of Salem, which owns the property and contracts out for some services like lawn care. Potter and other group founders in 1985 worked with the city to restore the cemetery from its post-World War II neglect and establish a trust fund to ensure its longevity. The late Virginia Felton led that effort. The careful work maintains the symbols which spurred Potter’s love for the cemetery in the first place. Delicately carved weeping willows, shaking hands and lambs are among the images carved in stone and under threat of burial under moss and grime.“I became interested in the craft and the aims people had in expressing their grief, or their faith, in symbols,” Potter said. “All of that imagery, it all means something. So I became interested in it as an aspect of art and culture.”The work to maintain the cemetery is perennial, but new volunteers are infrequent. The current group includes many who have been at it for decades.Next on their to-do list are repairs and restoration of the antique cast iron fences which border some of the graves. Surrounding the 1908 burial site of James Thompson, two sides of the fence bend and fail to meet. Potter points to a place where vandals pried an ornament off.  “When things get loose, they tend to disappear,” Potter said. At cemeteries, a handshake on a marker symbolizes eternal friendship, marriage or farewell to earthly life, according to Salem Pioneer Cemetery’s volunteer historian Elisabeth Potter. This cast iron handshake adorns the fence surrounding the Thompson family plot. (Abbey McDonald/ Salem Reporter) The elite headstone crew Potter, along with longtime volunteers Dale Palmquist and Mark Fields have worked for years to teach the community about the cemetery’s history.Potter is referred to as the historian of the group, and has knowledge – and printed informational material at the ready – for every topic relating to the cemetery, from the suffragettes buried there to its property records.In September, the group celebrated 20 years of volunteer work by Palmquist and Fields. Potter referred to them as “the elite headstone crew,” part of a foursome which includes Fred Klatz and the late Harold Otto.Two decades ago, Palmquist attended a workshop by Potter about cemetery care. At the time, there was no regularly scheduled work to maintain the gravestones. He and Fields began organizing work parties, and have consistently led the effort since.Along with the core volunteers, they’ve gotten help from organizations like the Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts; employees from Amazon, Home Depot, Gallagher Affinity Insurance; and local church groups.If a tree branch falls off and breaks a headstone, or if one gets too crooked, the duo uses a pulley system to repair the heavy markers. It’s a rare expertise that has made them an essential part of the team. Along with making markers legible, they’ve also made the cemetery’s history more accessible.Pat Norman, who’s been volunteering there since 2011, said that it was Field’s idea to add wayfinding signs to each aisle of the cemetery, allowing visitors to find certain people with a map. He borrowed a neighbor’s at-home concrete mixer in 2010 to make the signs that still stand today. In 2017, Palmquist and Fields received The George Strozut Award for Historic Preservation at the Willamette Heritage Center’s Heritage Awards for their work at the cemetery. An event photo in the Statesman Journal only shows Palmquist.  “They’re both quiet, humble guys. They didn’t even want to go to this. Dale showed up, Mark didn’t,” Norman said, and laughed. “You’d never get them to stand for a picture.” Longtime volunteers trim hedges at Salem Pioneer Cemetery. (Courtesy/ Pat Norman) Preserving stories Today, volunteers at the cemetery spend three and a half days per month from March through October tending to the graves. “You can’t walk 20 feet, and there’s stuff to do,” Norman said.But over time, the volunteer group has dwindled. “We’re getting smaller, we’re losing people, aging out, different things. When I think about it, Dale is kind of the last man standing as far as correcting and repairing the headstones,” she said.Lately, he’s had help from Terry Hutchinson, who began volunteering after retirement a few years ago. At 72, he’s on the younger end of the core volunteer group, the same age as Norman. Hutchinson has been taking over the heavy lifting from Fields lately, and assisting Palmquist. “It’s a good camaraderie. It’s just pleasant. You don’t feel like you really have to do a lot if you don’t want to, and you can come and go as you please, and it just makes it nice,” Hutchinson said. Mainly, the group cleans grave markers using bristle brushes, toothbrushes and wooden sticks. It requires knowing how to preserve the stones. An information sheet provided by Potter says to gently tap the monument’s surface, first. If there’s a hollow sound, don’t proceed. And don’t do the work in hot or freezing weather.Many of the volunteers are compelled by an interest in the lives and stories of those buried. Potter and Norman are particularly taken by the story of Tabitha Brown, who at age 65 traversed the continent on a wagon train.Brown made it to Oregon in the late 1840s despite being abandoned by the trail guide. She got her start making and selling gloves. Eventually, she’d go on to co-found Pacific University. Now her grave is one of the most visited at the cemetery. Brown’s is not the only remarkable story there, and there’s much more history to uncover. Wanting to learn more is what keeps Norman coming back to clean the headstones.“I’d be working and notice something. Like, this man over here, he lost two sets of twins and another boy,” Norman said, pointing to a family plot. “It just grows. When you’re in here, and you’re looking at headstones and you’re wondering about people. You want to learn.” Friends of Pioneer Cemetery is eager for more volunteers, Norman said. To get involved, contact Amanda Sitter, the city’s volunteer coordinator at 503-589-2197 [email protected]. Volunteers scrape moss at Salem Pioneer Cemetery. (Courtesy/ Pat Norman) Southeast Commercial Street can be seen from Salem Pioneer Cemetery. It was a wagon trail when the cemetery was founded, said volunteer historian Elisabeth Potter. (Abbey McDonald/ Salem Reporter) Friends of Pioneer Cemetery is working on repairing two onsite mausoleums. (Abbey McDonald/ Salem Reporter) Fall colors at Salem Pioneer Cemetery on Nov. 7, 2024. (Abbey McDonald/ Salem Reporter) Contact reporter Abbey McDonald: [email protected] or 503-575-1251. A MOMENT MORE, PLEASE– If you found this story useful, consider subscribing to Salem Reporter if you don’t already. Work such as this, done by local professionals, depends on community support from subscribers. 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