One of Utah’s oldest cemeteries is now being maintained by a new sexton after one of our state’s oldest cemetery sextons recently stepped down from his post.

There’s no disagreement, the oldest and largest cemetery in Utah is the Salt Lake City Cemetery, where the first recorded burial occurred the same year the pioneers arrived in the valley – 1847.

After that, there’s some disagreement among state historians as to where the Taylorsville Cemetery (4567 South Redwood Road) falls on that list. Some claim it’s the third oldest graveyard in Utah – others put it down a few more notches on the list.

One thing cemetery sexton Suzie Smith does know: people have been interred at the 5-acre Taylorsville location nearly as long as they have been going into the Salt Lake site.

“Betsey Jane Mantle died just before her fifth birthday, and is our first recorded Taylorsville Cemetery burial, dating back to March 1877,” Smith said. “But my research has shown, over the years several other unofficial or unmarked gravesites have been discovered in the cemetery. We believe some of those date back to the 1850s.”

Smith is only the second sexton Taylorsville City has ever employed at their venerable cemetery. She recently replaced Lee Bennion, who had been an institution there since well before the city incorporated in 1996.

“I used to play on that land as a child – and my entire family is buried there,” Bennion, 77, said. “The cemetery has been near and dear to my heart for decades.”

A walking history book of the cemetery, Bennion wields a convoluted story of the cemetery dating back to his childhood in the 1950s. He explains it was once owned by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints… then it went into private holding… then to a nonprofit association. That’s when Lee made a more active return to the site – 33 years ago.

“The cemetery had basically been abandoned for about 20 years and it looked horrible,” Bennion explains. “In February 1990, I was driving by and was shocked to see some kids working on it: cleaning up headstones and taking down weeds. I stopped to see what they were up to and who they were working for. That’s when I learned about the nonprofit and became involved. The third person I ever buried in the cemetery was my father in May 1990.”

Over the next few years, Bennion says the other association members fell by the wayside for various reasons. By 1995 – still a year before Taylorsville incorporated – he was all alone operating the cemetery.

“I was basically a one-man show at the cemetery for nearly 20 more years,” Bennion added. “I mowed the lawns and maintained the grounds. I would contract with digging and excavation companies as needed. We were doing about 40 burials per year in the early years.”

About a decade ago, Bennion approached the Taylorsville City Council about taking over the cemetery in a more official capacity.

“It was sometime between 2010 and 2013 when I asked the council if it wanted control of the cemetery,” he added. “As still the only person on the nonprofit association, I gave the city everything: the acreage, a backhoe, a pickup and dump trailer – along with about $15,000 we had in our budget.”

Bennion said he was contemplating stepping away from the cemetery for good back then. But city officials offered him a small stipend to “keep doing what you’re doing.” That’s when Bennion says he discovered he wasn’t really ready to leave.

“I have loved that place for so many decades,” Bennion added. “It has been such an honor to assist my family, my neighbors at that difficult time when they are dealing with a death in the family. Even total strangers; I love helping them through it. My work at the cemetery has been through my heart, not my head.”

An avid traveler who’s visited many countries and continents, Bennion expects to be doing more of that again in the near future. And even though he freely admits he left the sexton position begrudgingly, Bennion is also confident in his successor. He hired Suzie Smith as his assistant sexton a couple of years ago.

“You know what they say – the worst thing you can do is hire your replacement,” Bennion quipped, the sting not quite gone from his voice. “Suzie had been doing some volunteer gravesite research at the cemetery. Then I hired her as an assistant. She is a nitpicker. Everything has to be absolutely accurate. I told her once, ‘You think with your head, while I think with my heart.’ But I am confident she will do a great job.”

Taylorsville Mayor Kristie Overson believes the same thing, although she is also quick to recognize the enormous Lee Bennion shoes Smith has been tabbed with filling.

“Suzie works longer and harder than she is paid,” The mayor said. “She’s continuing to do so much research to update our records. She’s really moving the vision of the Taylorsville Cemetery forward. But we will also miss Lee’s 30+ years of dedication. He’s been so wonderful working with people in their difficult times. He’ll be missed.” 

As she continues to get acquainted with her new role as sexton, Smith is also recognizing the skills of her predecessor.

“I first got involved volunteering at the Taylorsville Cemetery because I like genealogy,” she said. “But there’s no question, it was Lee Bennion’s love of the cemetery that rubbed off on me. It is amazing to work there. I enjoy seeing how different cultures celebrate their deceased loved ones. It’s so peaceful. There is nothing morbid about it to me. When someone is buried there, I feel it’s now my turn to take care of them.”

There are now about 3,700 people interred at the Taylorsville Cemetery, with room for about 1,600 more. After the cemetery eventually “fills,” officials say additional family members can be interred there if they are cremated. A common practice is to bury urns filled with ashes above loved ones’ caskets. 

Taylorsville Cemetery plot prices are $1,750 for city residents and $2,300 for nonresidents. Plot maps and other information are available at taylorsvilleut.gov/services/cemetery. λ