Yesterday, I had the pleasure to go to Mount Calvary Catholic Cemetery in Newark. I wasn’t able to spend a great deal of time there; I hope to go back soon and explore some more.
At the top of the hill is the Wehrle family plot. There is a large monument in the middle, surrounded by individual tombstones. One of the things I found interesting was that all of the individual stones were identical; even the ones for people who died in the 1950s used a German-script style font.
In the Wehrle family plot is Rev. Joseph M. Wehrle. What caught my eye at first was that his tombstone includes his date of ordination. The front of the stone is an excellent example of the eucharist, chalice, grapes and wheat. As noted in Douglas Keister’s excellent book Stories in Stone, the use of all of these elements together was restricted almost exclusively to clergy.
According to his death certificate, Joseph Michael Wehrle was the son of Joseph and Philamena (Morath) Wehrle. Joseph was a priest at Saint Mary’s Church in Columbus, which is located in the German Village section of town.
From the tombstone: Rev. Joseph M. Wehrle/ Born October 24, 1865/ Ordained August 15, 1899/ Died April 24, 1924.
Rev. Joseph M. Wehrle tombstone, Mount Calvary Cemetery, Newark, Ohio. Photo by Amy Johnson Crow, 6 March 2009; all rights reserved.
Graveyard Rabbit of Central Ohio 