MLUC’s Memorial Garden has a decades-long history.
MLUC was founded in 1958, and purchased its current space, replete with acres of land front and
back, in 1960. It wasn’t until 1978, the year that Rev. W. Bradford Greeley was called by
MLUC, that the congregation had cause to consider a Memorial Garden. Just months after Rev.
Greeley’s tenure began, during MLUC’s gala Labor Day weekend reunion, Si West, a member
who had been on the new minister’s search committee, died suddenly. A workshop on death and
dying that was held soon after highlighted our church’s need for a means to memorialize loved
ones who have died.

Quickly a large, energetic committee formed to design a simple garden with indigenous plants to
be located on the quarter acre directly in front of the church building. In March 1981, MLUC
members voted to move forward to install the Memorial Garden. Here, families and friends of
members who have died may choose to have a bronze plaque installed bearing simply the name
of the deceased and their dates of birth and death. They may also request that ashes, urns, or
small remembrances be buried with the plaque in a space about the size of a shoebox.
About 2005, the garden was expanded across the entrance drive, up the hill to the right, and
down to the left toward the small terrace outside the Main Meeting Room. For the convenience
of family members and visitors, a wooden stand located at the entrance from the upper parking
lot to the Memorial Garden was added, holding maps that detail the location of each plaque.
Once a plaque is ordered and in hand, it is mounted on a granite base 8"x5"x18" deep. Then a
hole is dug and the plaque is placed in by hand. The digging is laborious because it requires
fighting the ubiquitous tree roots mixed with rocks and boulders. Who does this work? MLUC
member Tim Hart, who took over from Simon Gluck 20-plus years ago. Tim has since been the
single person involved, from the ordering of each plaque to its final interment. So far, he has
installed more than 115 of the existing 200+ plaques. “Unsung hero” doesn’t begin to describe
him!

“Because we are a memorial garden and not a cemetery,” Tim explains, “we are not allowed to
‘sell’ a specific place for a plaque in the garden.”

“I make every effort to make space for an additional family member interment in the future next
to a loved one,” he adds, citing the challenge of working around tree roots and rocks.
With the church fire of 1991, many of the biographies of those remembered in the Memorial
Garden were lost. In 2020, Robert Rimm, a member of the MLUC Environmental Justice Team,
inspired to attend MLUC because of the Garden and what it represented, began an effort to
collect biographies and memories of those whose plaques are in the Garden. Sadly, Robert
passed away in May of 2021, but his interest inspired other members to come forward to help
make his vision a reality. Additional members have stepped up to refresh and maintain the
Garden. Garden volunteers are always welcome, and may email their interest to Christy Parry at
hola.christy@verizon.net.