An Honor: Cemetery Workers Bring Out Crosses in Advance of Veterans Day

On Wednesday at Edmonds Memorial Cemetery, in glorious sunlight, Cliff Edwards and Dave Timbrook did what they do every day before Veterans Day: put white crosses at the final resting places of the almost 500 veterans who are interred there.

Edwards, the cemetery’s caretaker—sexton, to be official—and Timbrook, who works for the City of Edmonds Parks Department, paused when reaching the grave of Robert “Bob” W. Grimm. Grimm, who was 79 when he died on Sept. 25, volunteered at the cemetery for 12 years and was a close friend to both men.

Grimm never failed to bring donuts when helping to place crosses and flags on veterans' tombstones for both Veterans Day and . “I bought the donuts today,” said Edwards, who said that Grimm served in the Korean War.

The crosses, of course, are a tradition for Veterans Day. On Veterans Day itself, which is Friday, two local historians will lead a tour of the Edmonds Memorial Cemetery and point out a few of the almost 500 veterans, some dating back to the Civil War, who are interred there.

The tour is 11 a.m. Friday at the cemetery, 118 Fifth Ave. N. There are more than 400 veterans interred at the cemetery dating back to the Civil War.

The tour will be led by cemetery board member Dale Hoggins, who has led cemetery tours for 15 years, and author Betty Deebach Gaeng, a member of the Sno-Isle Genealogical Society and Alderwood Manor Heritage Association. She wrote Etched in Stone, which tells the history of the memorial monument in front of the Edmonds Museum.

The monument, first dedicated on Memorial Day in 1948, is inscribed with 79 names of those who lost their lives in wars since World War I.

Founded in 1891, the Edmonds Memorial Cemetery and Columbarium was placed on the Washington State Register of Historic Places in 1972. It is owned and maintained by the City of Edmonds.

For more information on the tour, call 425-776-1543.