34 FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 21 - MONDAY, NOVEMBER 24, 2014 NEWS Cape Gazette
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DENNIS FORNEY PHOTOS
AMONG THOSE ATTENDING the Nov. 17 ceremony at the Sussex County Cemetery were (l-r) Rita Landgraf, sec-
retary of Delaware's Department of Health and Social Services; Adele Mears Wemlinger, director of Stockley Cen-
ter; Sara Tapman, who works in the kitchen at Stockley; the Rev. Lewis Bowers, chaplain at Stockley Center; and Dana
Chant, director of the Indigent Burial Program for Delaware. This is one of three cemeteries for the indigent and uniden-
tified dead in Delaware - one in each county. "These people will never be forgotten from this day forward," said Bowers
in his prayer• "They have left this temporal world and now rest in your loving arms."
A potter's field
graveyard for poor,
unidentified dead
By Dennis Forney
dennisforney@capegazette.com
Hundreds of graves spread out
over a quiet, woods-edged corner
of the Stockley Center prop-
erty southeast of Georgetown.
One section of this unheralded
cemetery contains the remains
of people who have died while
residents of the center. Since 1921,
Stockley has served the needs of
Delawareans with mental dis-
abilities.
A newer section of the grave-
yard is the final resting place for
poor and unidentified people
who either had no families or
friends, nor anyone who could
afford to make arrangements
for their burials elsewhere. Such
cemeteries are often called pot:
ter's fields, as first mentioned
in the Bible book of Matthew,
chapter 27, verse 7.
"WE'VE BEEN SEEING AS
MANY AS THREE BURIALS A
MONTH."
- STOCKLEY CENTER DIRECTOR
ADELE MEARS WEMLINGER
On Nov. 17 state and Stockley
officials gathered at the site to
dedicate a new monument for
the Sussex County Cemetery. A
small crowd listened to prayer,
song and words, recalling the
lives and spirits of those interred
in this unpretentious patch of
Delmarva, bringing dignity and
connection, reminding all of the
fleeting nature of existence.
Rita Landgraf, secretary of
Delaware's Department of Health
and Social Services, spoke at
the brief ceremony. "This is our
state's lasting commitment that
these people will not be forgot-
ten. Each of them is someone's
son or daughter, sister or brother.
It's our responsibility that these
grounds remain a place of honor.
This stone means that, and it is
one way of bringing more love,
respect and compassion into our
world."
The tall, unpretentious granite
monument just outside the fence
of the cemetery lists the names
of 156 people buried there. More
are added each month, referred
here by people who contact other
state agencies, including police
and social workers. In all, the
cemetery holds the graves of 162
people since it was first estab-
lished in the early 1960s.
Adele Mears Wemlinger, direc-
tor of the Stockley Center, said
the pace of burials has picked
up in recent years, possibly, she
speculated, due to a tough econ-
omy. "We've been seeing as many
as three burials a month."
Continued on page 35
DOWNTOWN
This gate marks the entrance to the
Stockley Center section of the grave-
yard. The inscription reads: Of All
God's Children, These Are The Most
Innocent.
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