The Cemetery
The land for the cemetery was given by Christoph Sandhoff and August Sandhoff, and when Christoph Sandhoff died April 2, 1871 he was the first person buried there. Walking through the cemetery the names of Sandhoff, Schmidt, Roggeman and Hoppenrath appear often, all early members of Mount Olivet. In 1956 tragedy struck the small congregation when Leonard and Genevieve McKee and their son Milan were killed in a car accident. Their gravestones can be found in the cemetery. Rev. Keith Friese is buried here, the only Mount Olivet pastor to be buried in the cemetery. Another gravesite of note is that of Ivy Odegard. From 1963 to 1988 Odegard owned and operated Ivy's, a bar located next door to the chapel. The bar's previous owners, Carl and Marie Schultz, are also buried here. The Chapel Committee's work extends to maintaining the cemetery, including repairing and resetting gravestones and identifying names on gravestones that have worn away over time.
2009 brought the addition of a columbarium to the cemetery grounds, fulfilling a wish of the Chapel Committee of being able to serve the Mount Olivet faith community far into the future.
