St. Mary's Cemetery
Menomonee Township
Waukesha County Wisconsin

Location

This active Catholic Cemetery is located on a hill on the east side of Highway 74, about 1 block west of the intersection with Highway 145, Menomonee Falls, Southwest 1/4 of Section 1, Menomonee Township. Latitude: 431040N Longitude: 0880435W

History

The parish began in 1904 and was known as St. James until 1906. The church edifice was dedicated on Thanksgiving Day, 1905. The land around the church was all rock, and not conducive to cemetery plots. Land was purchased from Nic Becker, Sr. in June, 1906. The first person buried was Katherine Rott, a young school girl, daughter of Mr. & Mrs. August Rott, on September 1, 1906. A second acre was acquired and adjoins the cemetery on three sides. It is believed this was acquired as a gift from Mr. Becker in the late '30s with the stipulation that his children would receive a burial lot. In January 1848, forty acres adjacent to the cemetery were being subdivided. Mr. & Mrs. Joseph Schmidt, purchased 13 acres and deeded them to St. Mary's for cemetery purposes. Due to the fact that the cemetery is on a hill, it becomes quite cold in the winter. A mausoleum and chapel were constructed in 1995. Clarence & Loretta Roskopf gave the a contribution to cover the cost of the chapel to be located inside the mausoleum. In 1994, the size of the building was increased due to the number of "pre-construction" sales. The cemetery is administered by the St. Mary's Cemetery Association.

Records

There are cemetery records 1906-date. The earliest records may not be complete. There is a chart of the cemetery at the church and at the Secretary's home. Records are available to the public for research, Monday-Wednesday, upon notice to the Cemetery Association. Contact:

St. Mary's Cemetery Association
W140 N10363 Hwy 145
Germantown, WI 53022

Mail requests will be answered. There is usually no charge unless it involves considerable amount of research.

At the Waukesha County Museum there are transcriptions of the tombstones and information from St. Mary's records, 1906-November 1, 1984.

Photographs

The photos from this cemetery were generously taken and contributed to these pages by Lenora M. & her sister Julie, & Larry & Linda Kopet!