The Ste. Genevieve Herald, Ste. Genevieve
March 12, 2003
page 8

    Lucille Basler was an advocate for our ancestors.  She collected thousands of items of information on local families, organized it, and created impressive genealogies.
    But the work of the onetime history teacher and author of five books about Ste. Genevieve, extended beyond sifting through old records and helping create the town's historic preservation ordinance.
    Basler was one of the first members of the contemporary community to attempt to preserve Memorial Cemetery.  Although there had been attempts to restore it prior to 1968, in that year, she and her family began the first practical work.
    She describes some of the work in her book (now out of print), The District of Ste. Genevieve.
    "In 1968, we first started real restoration work by really cleaning up the place, cutting down dead trees and planting new ones," she wrote.  "Cleaning out open holes and graves which had been filled with bottles, cans, and trash.  The cross in the center of the cemetery was leaning badly, the sandstone cracking, and the statues were rusted and unsightly.
    "Here and there a stone was partially sticking out of the ground, covered with dirt after it fell, many completely covered, which were disclosed.  The box graves had fallen in and appeared to be just a pile of stones."
    She describes the deteriorated condition of the wall on the Fifth Street side of the cemetery as an early priority, along with crumbling tombstones.  (Basler and the Foundation for Restoration had raised funds for the work.)
    "[The wall] was first on the agenda of repairs.  That finished, we started on the stones.  What a job.  If it had not been for the most dedicated worker we have ever seen, stone mason Kenny Grass, we could never have accomplished the work."
    Basler was also instrumental in the installation of electrical lights at the new cemetery, repair of the central cross, and new landscaping.
    Basler also led to battle to save one of the cemetery's natural landmarks, the Liberty Elm Tree, located at the entrance tot he cemetery.
    In April 1976, the Liberty Elm was designated by the Missouri Department of Conservation as the largest American Elm tree in Missouri, 90 feet tall, with a girth of more than 18 feet and a crown spread of almost 100 feet.  It was estimated to be almost 300 years old.
    In the 1960's the city declared the then diseased tree a danger and wanted to cut it down.  Basler fought that action, finally convincing the city to spend $1,500 on a tree surgeon to nurse the tree back to health, instead of spending $1,800 to have it removed.  (Unfortunately, the tree could not be saved a second time.  The tree was topped in the early 1990's, leaving a massive stump to mark where it stood.)
    Basler was honored for her efforts by local, state, and national organizations interested in historic preservation.  She died in October 2000.

Cemetery Concerns in Ste. Genevieve's Past
    In conducting her research, Basler found solid evidence that neglect of the cemetery and public dismay over it started at an early date.  She quotes this paragraph from the May 14, 1875 issue of the Fair Play newspaper:
    "One very discreditable feature of our town is the lack of care taken of some of the graveyards... The gates are frequently left open, and hogs and cattle are allowed to tramp around promiscuously over the last resting places of the dead... We notice quite a number of graves scattered over it, above which have been erected beautiful monuments and tombs, many of which have fallen to the ground and are allowed to remain in that condition, while there are others that are on the verge of falling to the ground and being broken to pieces."