Cemetery wall for families wanted

REMEMBRANCE: Christine Rzoska wants to gauge interest in a Columbarium wall of remembrance at the Clareville Cemetery to give families, like her own, a monument to cremated relatives. PHOTO/LYNDA FERINGA

A former Carterton woman has called for a Columbarium wall of remembrance at Clareville Cemetery.

Christine Rzoska said she had raised the possibility with Carterton District Council of having a wall of remembrance at the Chester Rd cemetery that would provide a place for family members to pay their respects, even though the ashes of their relative may have been scattered elsewhere.

She said the ashes of Fred Mason, late husband of her sister Kerry, had been scattered at Castlepoint Beach and a plaque attached to a wall of remembrance at Clareville would be a boon for his family and descendants.

"They have a wall at Clareville already and plaques would only need to be of similar dimensions to a brick with a name, dates of birth and death, and where the ashes were scattered.

"It gives people a place to pay their respects and would be very important to family members in the future, so they know where the ashes were scattered."

Ms Rzoska said remembrance plaques - giving birth and death dates and where ashes had been scattered - could be attached to the inside surface of the brick frontage wall of the cemetery.

Otherwise, she said, a new, dedicated Columbarium wall could be built in which ashes could be sealed and kept, as with the wall at Greytown Cemetery.

Helen McNaught, amenities manager for South Wairarapa District Council, said there were five Columbarium walls at Greytown, seven at Martinborough and two at Featherston. Spaces at each wall cost $204.