After more than three decades on the city’s cemetery board, Richard T. Buettner recently retired. To commemorate his 33 years as President/Chairman of the Board of Trustees for the Public Cemetery of Cullman the Board of Trustees presented him with a plaque in honor of his dedicated service.

Buettner was asked to join the board in 1988 after his uncle, Herman M. Buettner, was no longer able to serve. Richard’s grandfather, Hugo Buettner, also served on the Board of Trustees.

The Public Cemetery of Cullman is located at Ninth Street and Main Avenue SW in the city of Cullman but is operated as a non-profit cooperative and is jointly owned by each individual who purchases a grave lot in the cemetery. The cemetery was established on March 3, 1881, when Col. John G. Cullmann, Charles Albes, and Adam Dreher incorporated it on land donated by Col. Cullmann. The cemetery is administered by a volunteer Board of Trustees and its caretaker. As each grave space is sold, a percentage of the sale price goes into a perpetual care fund used for daily operations and upkeep of the cemetery.

Buettner has done some custom work around the cemetery by creating an iron fence similar to the original historic iron fencing for the area where unknown Cullman citizens were buried after the 1882 Scarlet Fever epidemic.

Some improvements to the cemetery under his leadership include upgrading water pipes and adding more storm drains, purchasing an additional five acres, renovating the office and maintenance buildings, planting trees, and repairing storm damage. Moreover, Buettner was responsible for updating technology that has zooming capability; mapping grids of the cemetery with drone photos; upgrading equipment for landscaping; planting the natural Elaeagnus hedge surrounding the cemetery; and designing a proposed garden area for personal cremation memorials.

The inscription on Buettner’s plaque recognizes his three decades of contributions to the cemetery: “Thank you for your selfless hard work and efforts to set examples of dedicated commitment, service, and leadership to this Board of Trustees and to the citizens of Cullman who visit the cemetery, enjoy its beauty and peacefulness, and pay respect to those buried in the cemetery. We appreciate what you have done for this community by serving diligently for 33 years. Your wisdom, talents, and accomplishments have helped establish high standards for the future operations of this beautiful historic cemetery.”

Other members of the current Board of Trustees include Joe Hagan, Jerry Mobley, Linda McPhillips, Cherri Drake, Roy Williams, and Darrell Fuqua, cemetery sexton.

Public Cemetery of Cullman is open until dusk each day and the office hours are 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on weekdays or by appointment. Decoration Day in the cemetery is always the second Sunday in May. Donations can be made to the perpetual care fund.