After Years of Cleanup, a Celebration at Mount Hope Cemetery Park

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – A ribbon cutting will be held at Mount Hope Veterans Memorial Park Cemetery 10 a.m. June 16, celebrating the completion of a two-year project to restore the cemetery in Youngstown’s Sharonline neighborhood.

As part of the ceremony, ownership will be officially transferred to Mount Hope Veterans Memorial Park Inc., which has worked to clean up grave and headstones in the cemetery since 2012.

In 2016, former Youngstown police chief Jimmy Hughes began a maintenance initiative for the cemetery that included clearing dead trees and overgrown brush, putting down mulch and adding new flowers and shrubs. The park, at the corner of Liberty Road and Wardle Avenue on the East Side, won Youngstown CityScape’s Beautification Award in 2017.

The efforts of Hughes and members of the Mount Hope board were featured in the MidApril 2017 edition of The Business Journal. A dissertation by board member Nathan Queener detailing the history of the cemetery is available here.

Following the ribbon cutting, a breakfast fundraiser will be held at Reed’s Chapel A.M.E Church, 1939 Jacobs Road, whose founder, the Rev. Sarah Reed, is buried in the cemetery. The cost is $10. Maintenance of the park is supported by donations.

Pictured: Mount Hope Veterans Memorial Park board member Nathan Queener in 2017. 

Copyright 2024 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.