The Boerne Cemetery is the final resting place of many individuals whose lives and experiences contributed significantly to the historic heritage of Boerne.
The annual Boerne Cemetery tour began in 2018 to highlight this history by providing an opportunity to share the stories of these people with the public. During the tour, actors dressed in period attire portray historical figures and step forward to tell their story.
In 2018 Robin Stauber of the Patrick Heath Public Library and Nancy McLarry and Richard Tomlinson of the Genealogical Society of Kendall County met to plan the “Gone But Not Forgotten” cemetery tour. Boerne Parks and Recreation joined the project. With no budget, the project was totally dependent on volunteers.
The Genealogical Society had recently completed research for its prize-winning book, “The Sheriffs of Kendall County.” We knew that nine of the 22 former Sheriffs of Kendall County were buried in the Boerne Cemetery, but we did not want the tour to be exclusively about them.
We planned a walking tour that included visits to 10 graves, including six former sheriffs. The initial tour was planned for May 18, 2019, but was postponed to May 25. The tour has been held every year except 2020 when it was cancelled due to Covid.
The nine former Kendall County sheriffs buried in Boerne City Cemetery are: Sheriff Deceased Johann Franz Stendebach * d. 1930 Joseph T. Graham d. 1888 John Reinhard d. 1927 Helwig Zoeller * d. 1910 George A. Zoeller * d. 1908 James Monroe Saner * d. 1923 Joseph Sansom Saunders d. 1930 Douglas William Kuebel* d. 1971 Francis Jerusha (Miller) Kuebel * d. 1983 (* –– grave sites were included in the 2019 tour) Heavy demands were placed on the actors in terms of researching their roles and acquiring their costumes. They were asked to not just represent a person but to actually be that person, speaking in the first person and telling their life story.
Heath Library created posters for each stop with basic vital data and, where possible, a picture. The tour was laid out along a circular path and genealogical society volunteers served as guides.
The annual tours have included a wide range of people. For example: the courageous Adeline Kendall, Parisian-born wife of George Kendall, who faced the threat of Comanche attacks; Cecil Smith, who shocked the sports world by leading a gang of young West Texas cowboys to victory over elite polo teams of bluebloods in international championship matches; Fred Dodge, undercover agent for Wells Fargo and friend of Wyatt Earp; the Bickel family, whose tragic story is featured in a coming book, “Murder in Boerne Texas, the Untold Story of the Bickel Family Massacre,” and many more.
The next tour will be held Saturday, Oct. 25. Tours begin from the School Street entrance to the Boerne Cemetery at 10:15, 10:45 and 11:15 a.m. For details, contact Robin Stauber at Heath Library, or Jan Carr or Karla Abbott at the genealogical society at www.gskctx.org.
Comment
Comments