Calvary Cemetery is the oldest massive burial place for Confreres of New England Province since first Vincentian pastor and superior of St. Stanislaus Kostka Parish, Greenpoint, Brooklyn was buried there. The cemetery is owned and managed by the Archdiocese of New York, actually by the Trustees of St. Patrick’s Cathedral. It’s one of the largest and oldest Catholic cemeteries in the United States. Located at 49-02 Laurel Hill Blvd., Woodside, Queens. NY. In 1846 faced with cholera epidemics Trustees decided it was necessary to acquire a large parcel of land to satisfy the cemetery requirements of a growing population. Their choice was a 115 acres Alsop farm on the Maspeth side of Penny Bridge, which traversed Newton Township, Long Island. For the convience of funeral corteges, steamboat service was inaugurated from East 23rd St. First interment took place in June 1848. The Alsop plot of six graves is still a cemetery within the cemetery considered as New York historic landmark. By 1852 there were 50 burials a day in this graveyard, half of them the Irish poor under seven years of age. However the distance form the cemetery, which was behind city limits then, lead many parishes in New York City suberbia to establish burial places adjacent to their own churches. By the end of 20th century some 3 million burials were recorded in Calvary Cemetery.
(For more on history of Calvary Cemetery and other Catholic cemeteries in NYC go to: Brooklyn Genealogy Information Page)
The cemetery is divided into four divisions: First Calvary which is often called “Old Calvary” located between the Long Island Expressway & Review Ave., St. Calixtus Division (south side of Greenpoint Ave.). [View the map of Old Calvary]. Second, Third and Fourth Calvary, also known as “New Calvary” are another over 200 acres of land purchased in parts by 1900 and located South-East to First Calvary. [View the map of New Calvary]. Queens Midtown Expy and Brooklyn Queens Expy separate Old and New Calvary Cemeteries. Main entrance, and Cemetery’s Office are located at Greenpoint Ave. in the mouth of Gale Ave. It gives access to sections 1-10; 44-54 and 58. Cemetery is opened daily from 8 a.m. to 4:15 p.m.
The grave of Vincentians from New England Province is in First Calvary. Twenty-five Priests who worked and lived at St Stanislaus Kostka Church, Greenpoint, Brooklyn are buried there starting 1929 with Rev. Paul Waszko CM, who was first to come to the United States in 1904, the first Vincentian pastor of St. Stanislaus Kostka, the first Vice-Provincial of then Polish Vice-Province. The grave can be found in Northern range of section 49, in the second row (behind Robert H. Noble tomb) along St. Rose Avenue from main entrance towards the chapel. Inscription on the grave stone reads: “KSIĘŻA MISJONARZE ŚW. WINCENTEGO A PAULO” (Priests of the Mission of St. Vincent de Paul). [look at the location on the map ]
Confreres buried in First Calvary Cemetery:
Rev. Boleslaus BIELSKI CM (†1991)
Rev. Francis BROZEK CM (†1982)
Rev. Victor BRZOSKA CM (†1969)
Rev. Ignatius DUDZIAK CM (†1952)
Rev. Sigismund GOSK CM (†1975)
Rev. Francis HLADKI CM (†1964)
Rev. John L. JANOWSKI CM (†1951)
Rev. John T. KOWALSKI CM (†1996)
Rev. Edmund R. KOWALSKI CM (†2000)
Rev. Wiktor KOZLOWSKI CM (†1943)
Rev. Adalbert KRANZ CM (†1957))
Rev. Stephen KROL CM (†1954)
Rev. Francis KRZYZAK CM (†1983)
Rev. Augustine LEJA CM (†1949)
Rev. Joseph MIETELSKI CM (†2002)
Rev. Adam E. MINKIEL CM (†1989)
Rev. Bernard NIESLONY CM (†1955)
Rev. John E. REDZIMSKI CM (†1987)
Rev. Henry M. SAWICKI CM (†1999)
Rev. Adalbert SOJKA CM (†1994)
Rev. Edward P. SPURGIASZ CM (†1988)
Rev. Joseph STUDZINSKI CM (†1954)
Rev. Edmund TRZECIAK CM (†1970)
Rev. Paul WASZKO CM (†1929)
Rev. Ignatius S. WIECZOREK CM (†1965)
To read more about other graveyard of Vincentian community in New England go to these stories:
« They Rest In Peace… St. Michael’s Cemetery »
« Where Our Departed Confreres Rest In Peace »
« Eternal rest, grant unto them, O Lord… »
Leave a Reply