During the February 14 meeting of Thomas City Council, members unanimously approved a contribution of $2,000 to create a permanent endowment for the ongoing maintenance and beautification of Rose Hill Cemetery located behind the Cortland Acres Campus. Once the endowment reaches $10,000 it will provide an annual award to the City for that purpose.
The fund is managed by Tucker Community Foundation and donations to build the fund are now being accepted. Maintenance, upkeep, and beautification of the cemetery will include lawn maintenance, tree/stump removal, shrub trimming, resetting of stones, landscaping, road maintenance and other areas necessary for the proper maintenance and upkeep of the cemetery.
Upon retirement, Joe Dumire, Chairman of the Cemetery Committee, returned to his family roots in Thomas where he is helping to document and preserve the areas heritage. He and Mayor Quattro were instrumental in getting the fund started. Dumire stated, “On April 1, 1910, the West Virginia Central & Pittsburgh Railway (later the Western Maryland Railway), owned by the industrialist Senator Henry Gassaway Davis, transferred 2.29 acres of land to the Town of Thomas to establish Rose Hill Cemetery. Of interest is the fact that a section of this acreage is devoted to indigent burials with two vertical rows in that section being devoted to the burials of African-Americans. The remainder of the indigent section was reserved for the burials of white people. A number of people who worked for the railway, or Davis Coal & Coke Company, are buried at Rose Hill.”
Donations of any amount can be mailed to TCF, 737 William Ave., Suite 1, Davis, WV 26260. Checks should be made payable to TCF – Rose Hill Cemetery Fund. Online donations can be made at www.tuckerfoundation.net or www.facebook.com/tucker.commfound.
The Foundation manages more than one hundred fifteen endowed funds and provides several programs and services throughout an eight county region. Offices are located in Parsons and Davis.
For more information on how to create an endowment, contact the Foundation’s Development Office at 304-259-5008.
