North Royalton’s main cemetery has been targeted for a sprucing up over the past few years by the City administration and this year, the renovation will hopefully be competed. The cemetery is located at 6170 Royalton Road, and is one of two cemeteries in North Royalton.
In 2008, Mayor Bob Stefanik’s administration started to target the renovation and long term maintenance of the cemetery when they started earmarking some of the funds from the proceeds of plots. Since then some sewer work has been done, as well as the replacement of the sidewalk in front of the cemetery, along Royalton Road. There has been an overall cleanup within the cemetery, and adjacent property owners were then contacted to repair or replace the fence that surrounds a portion of it. The driveway was also resurfaced and some concrete work done.
The city received a grant provided by the Cuyahoga County Veterans Service Commission’s Memorial Affairs Department, where stones of veterans buried at the cemetery could be replaced or repaired and/or reset, at no cost to the city, or the families. Jason Swim, Director of the city’s Parks and Recreation, is responsible for the cemetery. He and Council President Larry Antoskiewicz physically inventoried and examined all plots that had standard issue stones. About 300 stones were identified and with 95 of them needing attention, with about thirty needing replacement. A bid was awarded to Everlasting Memorials and Monuments for phase one of the project, which included the resetting and cleaning of 30 stones. Phase two is being completed by Milano Monuments, which will reset another 30 stones. The final phase will begin soon, according to North Royalton Community Development Director Tom Jordan.
Stefanik said that the fence abutting the cemetery is in the process of being replaced. “They are making progress.” He recently noted that although there has been discussion over the past few years about placing decorative fencing along the section of Rt. 82, it is now realized that it is not a project that can be done, as the mature trees that run along the road would be killed if a fence was installed there. Rather than do that, the city is currently discussing placing a decorative gateway at the entrance of the cemetery. Also being discussed, is the renovation of the stone outbuilding, which once served to hold the deceased over the winter months, where burial was impossible. A company that is experienced in preserving these types of buildings has been contacted and there has been some discussion about the potential use of this building as a chapel and/or mausoleum. Jordan said that the cemetery upgrades are being included in a grant application for a Capital Grant Request to the State of Ohio, which was submitted earlier this month.
As of December, 2017, there were over 6,890 graves in total. Swim said that currently there are about 300 plots available. Each plot can accommodate up to two full sized caskets, one casket and four cremations, or up to six cremations.
The following, is the fee schedule for the North Royalton Cemetery:
Price charge per grave lot:
Section A, $700 for residents;
$1,000 for non-residents
Section B, $600 for residents;
$900 for non-residents
Sale or transfer of graves: $40
Grave opening and burial permit fees: Small size $250
Full size $550
Extra deep for stacking of burials $350
Headstone resetting fee $200
Grave opening for cremation $200
Disinterment (regular grave) $850
Saturday or Sunday burial extra $550
Saturday opening for cremation $400
Funerals arriving after 3 p.m. $75
Extra charge for each half hour
or fraction thereof, $50
Footer installations: (1068.07) 1-ft. wide by 3-ft. long or larger, $300 plus $75 for each additional foot
Less than 1-ft. wide by 3-ft. long, $175
Full size burial – holidays and city observed holidays, $1,100
Grave opening for cremation – holidays and city observed holidays, $400
The North Royalton Cemetery is open from 7 a.m. to sunset, daily. Office hours are 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. For information, call Jason Swim at 440-237-4866.

By GLORIA PLEVA KACIK
Contributing Writer