Preservation and Volunteer Insights with the Danby Rural Cemetery Board

In early 2024, the NYG&B published a unique searchable index for Danby Rural Cemetery, a small volunteer-run property in Tompkins County, New York, just south of Ithaca. As part of the NYG&B's Digitize New York initiative to preserve at-risk historical records, the collection contains extensive data on the cemetery’s interred, covering the early 19th century through 1951. In partnering with the cemetery, the NYG&B was afforded the chance to interview the trustees and volunteers that make up its board. Their personal histories as volunteers and citizens of Danby reveal the selfless work it takes to maintain an overlooked but essential part of the community. And their candid perspective on the cemetery’s future points to the challenges many such cemeteries now face.

The cemetery is governed by an eight-member Board of Trustees, of whom five participated in the interview: President Jane Brewer, Vice President Roland Boda, Secretary/Treasurer Sharon Boda, Caretaker Dick Hautala, and Veterans’ Liaison Linda Howe. Each has a rich connection to Danby Rural, summarized in the profiles below.

Jane Brewer, President

• Served on board for roughly 20 years
• At 70, youngest member of the board
• Family on both her and her husband's side buried at cemetery; first cousin of fellow board member Dick Hautala

Roland Boda, Vice President

• Served on board for over 20 years
• Assists with groundskeeping and administration
• Husband of fellow board member Sharon Boda

Sharon Boda, Secretary/Treasurer

• Served on board for over 20 years
• Sells lots, keeps financial records, invests funds
• Born and raised in Danby, with ancestors buried in the cemetery; wife of fellow board member Roland Boda

Dick Hautala, Trustees' Chair

• Worked at cemetery for over 35 years
• Handles all groundskeeping and gravestone repair
• 80-year-resident of Danby, with parents, wife, and extended family buried at cemetery

Linda Howe, Veterans' Liaison

• Worked at cemetery since 2001
• Prepares veteran flags for gravesites each year; oversees donation mailings
• Grew up in Danby; husband and extended family buried at cemetery

In addition to the board, there is also cemetery volunteer Jennifer Bryce, who has been instrumental in collecting data on the interred and coordinating the NYG&B’s release. Jennifer’s curiosity was first piqued when Roland, who helps with her farm, mentioned that upon readying new plots the maintenance crew had dug into two unknown graves—clearly there were burials in Danby that had not been properly accounted for.

Starting with the cemetery’s oldest handwritten ledgers, circa the 1870s, Jennifer and Sharon inputted entries into a spreadsheet; they then reconciled the data against later ledgers and various plot maps used over the years, each with distinct numbering systems. The end result is the streamlined spreadsheet that powers both the NYG&B’s searchable database and the cemetery’s ongoing tracking of historical and new internments.

Such a database could not exist without volunteers devoting time to it. "There is no simple software package to help rural cemeteries just organize the mapping sales and tracking of lots," said Jennifer. Instead, cemeteries typically must work with consultants, often at a prohibitive cost—something Danby Rural can’t afford. And the worthiness of the work is apparent: from identifying lost family members in near-illegible graves to recognizing overlooked veterans, who, in turn, receive honors when flags are placed to memorialize service.

With the youngest member of the board being 70, and a sense that, as Roland says, "It's time to draw back and try to get somebody else that can handle the work a little bit better," there are tough questions as to who within Danby or Tompkins County will help ensure the cemetery’s future.

President Brewer recalled that "[15 years ago] Dick would call me and say, ‘We need to mow Tuesday.’ I would get on the phone and call up about 10 to 12 people and they'd all show up and we'd have hot dogs or pizza, and we'd all have a good time. Now I think there's only three of us left that used to do that." And while some newer area residents have purchased plots, recognizing it as a bucolic resting place, few today regard it as a public space to visit and enjoy, where they might meditate on the many people who have called these surroundings home.

Rural cemeteries like Danby, if they intend to remain active, of course must change to some degree. That can mean entrusting the land to new volunteers or pursuing new avenues for fundraising; whatever the path, it will require awareness of the cemetery’s familial and historical significance. Part of the hope in releasing records and sharing volunteers’ stories is to build such awareness. By giving family history researchers and Central New Yorkers a tool to discover the historic peoples of Danby, they are also better able to understand just what and who is needed to ensure this vital place remains.