St. Benedict's Cemetery
This cemetery is located 0.1 mile north of the intersection of 67th and Ivy roads. From the intersection of Highway 2 and 66th road, turn onto 66th road, then turn the left on Ivy road until you reach the intersection of 67/Ivy. Turn left and go 0.1 mile. The cemetery is on the east side of the road.
"St. Benedict Church is the oldest parish in the Diocese of Lincoln, and its building is the oldest brick church in Nebraska. Records also suggest that St. Benedict Parish is the oldest active Roman Catholic parish in the state. St. Benedict church sits atop Nebraska City's Kearney Hill. The following story of St. Benedict Cemetery is taken from Faith & Work, a publication compiled to celebrate the 150 year anniversary of St. Benedict parish in 2006.
'St. Benedict Cemetery sits atop a Missouri River bluff approximately 2 miles southeast of the church. Trees shade the eastern slope, which faces the river. The western slope, which faces corn and soybean fields, catches the full day's sun. The older gravestones at the southern end of the cemetery bear inscriptions in German. As time passed, and the plots spread northward, English inscriptions took precedence.
The first two acres of land for the cemetery were donated in 1861 by Joseph Sand Sr. after the death of his second wife, Marianna Bach Sand. Hers is the first grave recorded. In addition, Sand later moved the remains of his first wife, Maria, and her first husband, Franz Happel, from Missouri to Nebraska City. The oldest section of the cemetery, where they lay, accommodates 600 graves in 200 plots.
In 1931, Joseph Sand Jr. donated another parcel of land to the cemetery that accommodated 996 graves in 332 plots. This donation brought the cemetery to its current size of 4.5 acres. The cemetery has always been a major concern for the parish regardless of good or bad economic times. Because so many current members are fifth and sixth generation descendants of the founding families, they donate time, labor and money to assure that gravesites are maintained and secure. A cemetery board has overseen these activities for most of the parish's history.' The recently completed Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center is directly north and easily viewed from St. Benedict Cemetery." (1)