Options above ground

The Ford family matriarch once made a firm declaration: She didn't want her final resting place to be beneath the cold, hard earth. She belonged to a family full of funeral home directors, so they knew exactly what to do.

"She didn't want to go into the ground, so Mom said, 'Figure something out,'" said Kevin Ford, who with his brother, Cliff, owns the funeral home that was started in Cape Girardeau by his grandfather. "So we decided to build a mausoleum. That was the major reason."

So the Ford-owned Cape County Memorial Park had its first mausoleum built, despite the fact that it was a risky move financially. But, it turns out, the interest in an "alternative to underground burial" was greater than the Ford family had thought.

"Some people are like Mom," Ford said. "They just don't want to be buried in the ground, for one reason or the other."

Now, 20 years later, the Ford family has continued to add on to that first mausoleum over the years and is currently in the process of adding one new building with plans for two more. When all the buildings are done, Ford said, there will be 1,800 spaces for burials, including the 400 spaces that line the walls near the memorial park's chapel near Cape Girardeau County Park.

The memorial park is just that, a park, Ford said. It doesn't allow upright tombstones, only markers that help keep the area from looking like a traditional cemetery.

"Look out there," Ford said during a recent visit. "It looks like a park."

The memorial park was built in 1932 by a man named Hugo Felix. Raymond Strom bought it in 1951, and the Ford family purchased it in 1986. The following year, the Fords built the mausoleum, with 287 spaces for ornate shelves for coffins and 128 niche spaces, which are for urns holding cremated remains.

The spots sold quickly, Ford said.

"We were surprised by the demand for these above-ground options," he said.

A few years later, they added a second building and enclosed it, creating a chapel for funerals. Each additional building will include 254 spaces for coffins and 186 spaces for urns, Ford said.

The building under construction right now is expected to be completed by fall, and the other two buildings will be created as the previous ones are filled. He expects all of the buildings to be finished within the next 10 years.

"I never would have imagined it would have been so well-received," Ford said. "Before we built our first one, some families expressed some interest, but that doesn't mean they're going to support it. It's just another way for us to provide for the families."

smoyers@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 137