Who knows what neglected cemetery souls cry out for recognition for? Whatever urgings took place, Hans Henke heard them at Patchogue’s Lakeview Cemetery. Back in 1991, while still working as a mechanic at his business, Henke Repair Service in Blue Point, Henke found that many of the markers or gravesites—including those of prominent families and the oldest founding merchants—were not identifiable. They were obscured by weeds and thick vines, making walking through the cemetery a challenge.
“You couldn’t walk three feet in any direction there because of the overgrowth,” said Greater Patchogue Historical Society treasurer Steve Lucas. “Hans was definitely the early mover, shaker, and later on, Steve Gill continued with it. Between the two of them, they were the ones who took it upon themselves to do something.”
Henke passed away at 96 on January 7. If there was ever a well-lived life, Henke’s journey is an inspiring example.
Henke began his cemetery tending on weekends in the early 1990s, then retired from his full-time job in 1997.
One formidable task was managing the 6-acre parcel, which wraps around from West Main Street to Waverly Avenue and includes a stretch of Lake Street. A combination of several co-joined Christian burial grounds—including Old Episcopal, Union, Gerard, and Rice— evolved from property on the corner of Waverly Avenue and West Main Street, purchased in 1791 for a church building.
Union Cemetery is the oldest, with its Revolutionary War, Civil War, and War of 1812 veterans.
Daughter Susan Henke-Brinkman recalled where her father started, to the east by the prominent Four Sisters Monument. Erected in 1909 by Patchogue resident Ruth Newey Smith as a memorial to her father, brother, and three sisters—Charlotte, Augusta, and Betsy Ann (the women were very philanthropic)—it was a mess back then, but the memorial is now striking. He also started to the west by Rice Cemetery.
Notables interred include over 100 veterans from several wars, as well as a slave child indentured to the Roe family and Elizabeth Oakes Smith, a women’s rights lecturer, author, and poet. Also interred aresailors who died tragicallyoff Fire Island, where the Sailors’ Monument is located. There are an estimated 1,200 graves altogether.
Cleaning up those areas initially required a hatchet and a machete to clear vines and roots. Henke also found a homeless encampment on the grounds and tried to help.
“We were with the Patchogue Historical Society then and realized we had to be a separate entity to get grants,” Henke-Brinkman said. “So, we started the Cemetery Restoration Committee.”
Source: Fire Island News & Great South Bay News
