SELBYVILLE – One man’s effort to improve a largely forgotten section of a local cemetery culminated this week with a dedication by Bishop Francis Malooly.
Malooly, bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Wilmington, presided over a ceremony at the new stone marking the section of the Gate of Heaven Cemetery set aside for infants. Ocean City resident Joe Mulholland spent the past year raising money to have the new stone installed.
“Thirteen months ago it was a vision,” Mulholland said the day after the ceremony. “Yesterday it was a reality because of so many parts played by so many people. I was just one part.”
Mulholland, 88, became a regular visitor at Gate of Heaven Cemetery following his wife’s death. It was on one of his twice-weekly visits that he first noticed the small area of the graveyard set aside for babies that have passed away. Unlike the rest of the cemetery, it was plain and overlooked. Tiny markers the size of index cards delineated the graves.
“A lot of the couples didn’t have money for anything,” Mulholland said.
Joe Mulholland, who came up with the idea, is pictured with Bishop Francis Malooly last Sunday.
He came up with the idea of purchasing a granite stone for the area that could be inscribed with the names of the 33 babies buried there as well as those who are interred there in the future. Mulholland launched the “Baby Memorial Fund” and started soliciting donations.
Though he collected $2,000 from area residents and organizations, the effort really took off when Mulholland’s grandson and his wife created a Go Fund Me page for the project.
“I’d have been lost in the woods without them because I’m not up to par with computers,” Mulholland said. “After that, I was getting donations from five different states.”
Between the website and his local donation drive, Mulholland raised more than $8,000. That money was used to purchase a stone marker and inscribe it with the children’s names. It also funded small stones to replace the little markers indicating where the infants in that section of the cemetery were buried. There’s $2,000 left to cover maintenance costs and the future inscriptions.
On Sept. 11, Malooly and others from the Diocese of Wilmington offered a dedication and blessing at the newly improved infants’ section of the cemetery. Roughly 60 people were in attendance.
“Everything went beautiful,” Mulholland said.
He was flattered to be given a flower to pin to his shirt for the event. He made sure to visit the columbarium where his wife’s remains are located.
“I put the flower in there because she deserves it,” he said. “It was her memory that motivated me to do this.”
Mulholland said he was grateful to everyone who supported the effort during the past year. He said he was particularly thankful for the support of the Sons of Italy of Maryland and Delaware, the Knights of Columbus of Maryland and Delaware, the Ancient Order of Hibernians and the Ladies Ancient Order of Hibernians as well as the Polish Club of Ocean City.
