November 4, 2018

Capital campaign underway for St. Joseph’s Cemetery in Pittsfield

REGIONAL
Story and photo by Carolee McGrath

The Catholic community of Pittsfield has launched a capital campaign to raise money to repair St. Joseph’s Cemetery.

PITTSFIELD – A capital campaign is underway in Pittsfield to raise money to pay for restoration work at St. Joseph’s Cemetery on Pecks Road. The Catholic community in Pittsfield including the parishes of St. Joseph, St. Mark, St. Charles and Sacred Heart, are joining together to raise $1.2 million dollars, launching the campaign, “Joining Together to Honor our Past and Continue our Legacy.”

“We started our capital campaign for the cemetery last week at three of our parishes, and we’ll do it here at St. Charles in the next few weeks,” said Msgr. Michael Shershanovich, administrator of St. Charles Parish and director of St. Joseph Cemetery. Msgr. Shershanovich, who is also the pastor of St. Joseph Parish in Pittsfield, said the cemetery has problems with drainage and the roads, especially in the upper area.

“We have a lot of underground water problems. We have to lower the catch basins before we can do any other work. That has to be corrected first,” he said. Msgr. Shershanovich also said the roads ice over, making it difficult for cars to pass during the cold weather.

“It can be dangerous and it is a holy place. We should be doing our best so we can preserve the cemetery for many generations to come,” he said.

St. Joseph’s Cemetery dates back to 1853.

“For all of us who have family up there, who are buried up there, we tend to go quite a bit. The road conditions are very bad. There is a lot of repair that’s  needed,” said Bob Pothier, a parishioner of St. Charles Parish. His wife, Joyce, passed away in 2015.

“Sometimes you’re running through large puddles. Things are starting to fall apart. It’s well-overdue,” said Pothier.

The campaign has raised close to $700,000 as of last weekend’s collections.

For more information, call the cemetery office at (413) 499-1317 or visit the website at stjosephcemeterypittsfield.com