The All Saints Cemetery is situated west of the church.
The location was selected in 1835 since the higher ground was a protection from encroaching flood waters of the Dardenne Creek. During those years, the church was near the Creek and later relocated adjacent to the cemetery. The cemetery is operated for the benefit and burial of the members of All Saints Parish.
The Crucifixion Group statuary, located on the north side of the cemetery, is the setting for outdoor celebration of the Mass on special occasions. It was a gift to the Parish from the Auchly family.
CLICK HERE to view a list of the Veterans buried in our cemetery.
Our Columbarium and Meditation Garden are under the patronage of our Lady of Sorrows. Is there anything more beautiful or more fitting? Just as Our Lady grieved the Passion and Death of her Son, so does she enter into our grief at losing a loved one. Her statue, in the middle of our columbarium garden is a beautiful reminder of her love and care for us.
Our early parishioners set aside holy space for burial in 1835 and there are now more than 1200 people in our current cemetery. It was near capacity by the early decades of the 21st century. The Mother of Sorrows Meditation Garden and our first Columbarium structure were completed in 2019. The niches sold quickly and in 2022, two more columbarium structures were built bringing our total to 300 niches, each of which can accommodate 2 urns.
All Saints Columbarium offers:
Perpetual Care - the Code of Canon Law requires the Catholic Church to perpetually maintain its places of burial. Care is guaranteed even after you or your loved ones are gone.
Security - Our church grounds are well lit as is our Meditation Garden. Security is very important to us.
Serenity - The entire area dedicated for our columbarium garden is being transformed into a peaceful environment for mediation and quiet reflection. It is a wonderful space for people to spend time with their loved ones, remembering. It is also a very special place where those who have gone before you can rest as they await the final Resurrection. This, of course, is one of our fundamental beliefs as Catholic Christians – a belief we profess every Sunday when we recite the Creed.
Certificate of Right of Inurnment is a document for right to burial in one burial niche. Ownership of land and structures resides with All Saints Catholic Church at all times.
Purchasers of a Certificate of Right of Inurnment must be a registered member of All Saints Parish, member of parishioners’ immediate family, priests and former priests and deacons of the parish; former parishioners and their children; and parents and grandparents of current members.
A certificate of ownership, stamped with the parish seal, will be issued for the right to utilize each niche. All purchases shall be recorded at the Parish Office. The Church shall provide a copy of the Purchase Agreement, together with the current Terms and Conditions governing the Garden and Columbarium.
At time of purchase of Certificate of Right of Inurnment with full payment, the purchaser may select niche location. Credit or debit card purchases incur a 3% transaction fee.
Niche - Each columbarium niche measures 6.75” high x 6.75” wide x 15” long. Each niche will accommodate 2 of the regulation sheet bronze urns which are 5.375” high x 5.376” wide x 6.75” long. No other urns will be accepted.
Marble plaques will be engraved with the same Helvetica font, in the same format and will include only the first name, middle initial, last name and dates of birth and death. Plaque may display only one person, married couple or two separate people. Records are kept in the Parish Office with memorial information on the deceased.
CLICK HERE to read Columbarium Terms and Conditions
For more information and current pricing, please call the Parish Office: 636-397-1440 ext. 221.
Stained glass windows leave an impression. They are lifelike images that are hand painted on glass. We appreciate the colorful windows and the pictures remind us of stories about our Christian faith, guardian angel protecting a child and the Good Shepherd with a sheep across his shoulder. Occasionally the old windows create a curiosity. Such is the case in our school library, now a library but first it was a chapel for students when the school was built in 1919.
The names on the windows are “In Memory of” Ralph Edward Boschert and Albert F. Ell.
Finding out about the “Memory” of Ralph Boschert and Albert Ell takes on a journey of discovery because those who were close to them are no longer alive. In searching for information, we have learned that each of these men were in the Navy during World War I. Neither died from wounds in battle across the ocean but from another battle, the one of a virus that was deadly, commonly known as the Spanish Flu. This is how the Center for Disease Control describes that virus.
“The 1918 influenza pandemic was the most severe pandemic in recent history. It was caused by an H1N1 virus with genes of avian origin. Although there is not universal consensus regarding where the virus originated, it spread worldwide during 1918- 1919. In the United States, it was first identified in military personnel in spring 1918. It is estimated that about 500 million people or one-third of the world’s population became infected with this virus. The number of deaths was estimated to be at least 50 million worldwide with about 675,000 occurring in the United States. Mortality was high in people younger than 5 years old, 20-40 years old, and 65 years and older. The high mortality in healthy people, including those in the 20-40 year age group, was a unique feature of this pandemic.”
Both Ralph Boschert and Albert Ell were in the 20-40 year age group and in the Navy. Newly enlisted, Ralph was at the Great Lakes Naval Training Station in Chicago, Illinois, when he contracted the flu and died of it and pneumonia. He was 22 years old. Albert was just shy of his 23rd birthday and had returned from serving in the war. According to a descendant, Bob Ell, Albert came from Europe aboard a ship that was so crowded that the men had to stand in water all the way across the ocean. His death certificate shows influenza as the cause followed by bronchial pneumonia.
Ralph Boschert and Albert Ell are buried in All Saints Cemetery, their names etched in stone but also in our school’s stained glass windows. As we think of them, we have a reminder for today – to consider the similarities between the pandemic of 1918-19 and what we are experiencing with the Covid-19.
Born October 30, 1867
Died August 18, 1869
Research and story by Trish Walther
Ida Krekel’s stone was discovered in All Saints’ cemetery on March 1st of 2020. It happened during a walk in the western part of the cemetery, the area less visited where some of the oldest graves are. It was hardly noticeable, just a small portion of her stone appeared and the rest was covered in dirt and grass. The exposed part of the stone glistened in the afternoon sun and drew attention to it as if it was calling out to be recognized – a headstone that had been forgotten in time. Unearthing the lone stone began a journey of discovery that would take a year before finally unraveling her relationship to the Krekel’s, a notable family in the community during the Civil War and following.
Ida was born in 1867 to Nicholas and Wilhelmina Krekel, a couple who had a total of 10 children. Today Ida would be a little over 150 years old. According to the records at the St. Charles Historical Society, Ida was baptized at All Saints in 1867. As now known, she was buried at All Saints in 1869. She was just shy of being two years old when she died. All Saints has no record of her burial, however. No written burial is attributed to an oversight of recordkeeping but does not discount the fact that Ida was buried and remembered in stone by her parents.
The Krekel family has a notable history:
Nicholas Krekel was considered the founder and first resident of O'Fallon, Missouri. He was the city's first Postmaster and the railroad Station Agent. A veteran of the Mexican War, he served as a home guard and militia man during the Civil War. (Find-A-Grave bio)
Ida’s uncle, Arnold Krekel, was appointed by President Lincoln as United States District Judge in Missouri.
Ida's headstone reads: “daughter of N & M Krekel.” Ida’s mother Wilhelmina went by the nickname 'Mena'. The initial “M” and nickname was the clue and connection when trying to find Ida’s family when there were no other Krekel’s buried in All Saints Cemetery. Ida, the only Krekel child of Nicholas and Mena buried at All Saints, has a similar inscription to her brother’s stone, Charles known as “Charlie.” He is buried in the cemetery at the neighboring Assumption Parish in O’Fallon, Missouri. Both stones listed each child as daughter or son of “N & M Krekel.” N & M are Nicholas and Wilhelmina Krekel. (see pictures)
Other Krekel family members are buried at Assumption Parish’s cemetery in O'Fallon as well as in other cemeteries in St. Charles County.
Several individuals are researching Ida’s family, the Krekel’s. With records not always having been documented clearly, discrepancies in research appear to be conflicting. Some have listed Ida as living until 1880, which makes it puzzling. For example, a St. Charles historian named “DutzowMo” on Ancestry was intrigued with the finding and uncovering of the stone at All Saints Cemetery but did not researched it further for updating that genealogical tree. According to the families who list Ida in their family trees, she died in 1880. Some trees have her date of death as nothing more specific than “before 1880.” However, the Missouri State Census published in June 1880, does not show Ida as one of the Krekel’s children. A census only shows living people. Subsequent to various inquiries and requests for additional searching with family members, Ida became verified as part of the Krekel family by relatives within the family. Ida now appears in an updated Krekel tree and on a Find-A-Grave bio with her parents and the rest of her family. Ida was one of ten children, of whom only seven lived to adulthood. Just two of the three children who didn’t survive into adult years have been found to date: Ida and her brother, Charlie.
Special recognition to Betty for her assistance
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/209269938/ida-krekel
If you have any additional information or corrections to Ida’s story, please post contact All Saints Parish, reception@allsaints-stpeters.org to help the Heritage Committee add to her documents.
In 2020, Ida’s headstone was lifted from its fallen position and placed upright. This is part of the All Saints Cemetery’s ongoing restoration of the old stones. No matter what faulty recordkeeping and assumptions people make, the little girl who had been forgotten for more than a hundred years is now remembered. Rest In Peace, Ida!