Historic Woodlawn Cemetery

Woodlawn

admin — Fri, 19 Mar 2021 15:04:25 +0000

Woodlawn

Located near Section DD

In 2016 the Board of Directors of Woodlawn saw the demand for cremation services and above ground burials sites. The Board elected to re-purpose the Receiving Vault, or Chapel which was built in 1884, into a public mausoleum.

The intent was to keep the integrity of the building and install 182 granite niches inside the structure. This would become another unique feature to offer and provide families interested in being interred at Woodlawn.

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Mrkvicka

admin — Fri, 19 Mar 2021 15:03:12 +0000

Mrkvicka

Located in East Addition

Back when a young Dan Mrkvicka was 13 years old and learning how to drive, his mother would take him to Woodlawn Cemetery to improve his navigation skills with the family car.

But what Dan remembers most clearly was asking his mother about the various small structures at the cemetery. His mother told him that those ‘monuments’ were called mausoleums where the remains of the deceased were laid to rest. She added that someday she would like her remains to be placed in a similar mausoleum.

Over the years, Dan talked to other family members about fulfilling his mother’s wishes by creating a mausoleum at Woodlawn. Everyone in the family expressed interest in pursuing this and in September 2011, Dan began the process of building that final resting place for family members by contacting Dakota Granite to assist with the process of building a mausoleum for their family.

The following year in 2012 the mausoleum was completed. Dan’s dad was instrumental in developing the landscaping that’s surrounds the mausoleum and the grounds have been maintained by the Mrkvicka family ever since.

It all started by a son’s conversation with his mother about the structures he saw in the cemetery.

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Wanek

admin — Fri, 19 Mar 2021 15:01:34 +0000

Wanek

Located in East Addition

The quest for excellence has long been associated with Ron Wanek’s life and business. Ron grew up on a dairy farm in Minnesota, is fifth generation within his family to live in the city of Winona. He started his career as a carrier for Winona Industries in 1961. Ron’s strong work ethic and ambition was quickly noticed by the owners of the factory. Over the years he was mentored and taught all the various aspects of running a successful manufacturing business.

By 1970, Ron and a group of investors formed the groundwork of building his first furniture manufacturing business, Arcadia Furniture Corporation. In the years ahead they merged with another company, Ashley Furniture, then became known as Ashley Furniture Industries, Inc. Today Ashley Furniture is now the largest retail furniture store brand in North America and one of the world’s best-selling furniture store brands. Ron remains chairman of Ashley Furniture to this date.

Over the years Ron and Joyce have never forgotten their roots by generously giving back to the communities and organizations in which they strongly believe in. They have been honored with many awards for achievement but probably the most cherished award will be the Horatio Alger Award. The Award symbolizes leadership and commitment to excellence.

A mausoleum was built in honor of Ron’s gracious lady in his life, Joyce (Steege) Wanek. On the east side of the mausoleum a tribute is engraved to his wife by sharing some of her qualities that she has instilled in their family over the years. A true love story. The other feature which is unique to the cemetery is honoring the Wanek family generational history on the granite steps leading up to their mausoleum. The mausoleum was made and constructed from Dakota Granite and purchased through Lewiston Monument.

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Paul Watkins

admin — Fri, 19 Mar 2021 14:59:59 +0000

Paul Watkins

Located in Section D

Upon Paul Watkins death on Christmas Eve, 1931 the family decided to design and construct a family mausoleum at Woodlawn Cemetery. In 1934, Paul Watkins was buried in the mausoleum along with the cremains of his father, mother and sister.

Banks were closed at 2:00 p.m. and business establishments throughout the city of Winona ceased activities for three minutes at 2:00 p.m. in tribute of a sudden death of Paul Watkins, president of J.R. Watkins company and vice-president of Winona National and Savings bank. Between 1,200 and 1,500 people came out to view the body, which lay in state in the northwest drawing room at the Watkins home.

The design for the mausoleum was initiated in 1932 and construction completed in 1934 by Coldspring Granite Company. A bronze door titled “The Resurrection” depicts a standing figure of Christ rising.

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Crockett

admin — Fri, 19 Mar 2021 14:58:41 +0000

Crockett

Located in Section CC, Lot 1

Albion Crockett was born in Maine in 1838 and then moved to Minneapolis around 1855 where he met and eventually married Emma Firman from the opposite side of the Mississippi River in St. Paul. Colonel Crockett was employed lumber industry and longtime mill superintendent for the Youmans Brothers and Hodgins lumber company.

In 1906 Albion Crockett died of tuberculosis. Emma Crockett-Crowe became ill and died on July 16, 1913. She was entombed with her daughter and first husband in the family mausoleum.

The newspaper article in the Winona Republican-Herald reports the vault was constructed over a solid six-foot foundation of stone made out of granite. The main portion of the vault is built with Bedford stone. The dimensions of the structure are nine by fourteen and half feet in size and contains three crypts.

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J.R. Watkins

admin — Fri, 19 Mar 2021 14:57:31 +0000

J.R. Watkins

Located in Section I, Lots 85 – 90

Joseph Ray Watkins, or J. R. Watkins was born in Ohio in 1840. As time past J.R. Watkins found his true love and married Mary Ellen Herberling in Ohio in 1868. They packed their bags and family and moved to Plainview, MN where he established a manufacturing business. The business continued to grow and eventually moved his family and business to Winona.

Mary Ellen Watkins became ill and died in 1904. Years later in 1911 J.R. Watkins died suddenly while vacationing in Jamacia with his second wife Martha King and stepson and his family. J.R.’s cremains were brought back to Winona for entombment in the family mausoleum.

In 1902, materials for the Watkins Mausoleum were being shipped to Woodlawn. One carload contained forty-four pieces and weighed 1,000 pounds; another carload contained fifty-five pieces and weighed 34,400 pounds with an additional five carloads coming to complete the construction at Woodlawn.

The total weight of stone shipments came to 128,000 pounds or 64.4 tons. The mausoleum is different from any other in the cemetery with the provisions being made for the interments of bodies under the floor of the vault instead of along the sides. The mausoleum looks like a little chapel, with handsome stained-glass windows on the south end of the structure.

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Walrath

admin — Fri, 19 Mar 2021 14:56:06 +0000

Walrath

Located in Section C, Lot 21

Harrison and Isabella Walrath were not only husband and wife but they were medical doctors as well. The couple originally came to Winona to care for his patients. Belle, who was a native to the area later attended the College of Medicine in Chicago to obtain her degree in medicine.

A wealthy brother in-law, Carl Worsham of Texas came to Winona to purchase a burial plot in Woodlawn and then proceeded to make arrangements to construct a vault for the couple. The remains of Harry and Belle Walrath were laid to rest on October 6, 1910.

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Warmington

admin — Fri, 19 Mar 2021 14:55:02 +0000

Warmington

Located in Section T, Lot 15

William J. Warmington was born in Connecticut in 1892 and eventually made his journey to Winona in 1914. He was employed by George Stager who owned a jewelry store in the downtown area.

In 1922 Mr. Warmington proceeded to purchase the jewelry store in which he had worked for a number of years. He operated Stager Jewelry until 1957 when he sold the business to his store manager, Mrs. Louise Dean.

William Warrington eventually married Leona Louse Linker from La Crosse, Wisconsin. Leona’s mother was the daughter of Gotleeb Heileman, founder of the Heileman Brewing Company. William was appointed on the Heileman Brewing Company, Board of Directors shortly after their marriage.

William died at the age of 83 years on November 30, 1975 and was entombed inside their mausoleum. Years later on December 2, 1983 Leona died and was reunited with her late husband at Woodlawn. The mausoleum was built prior to 1975 out of granite and large enough to hold to two coffins inside.

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Brooks

admin — Fri, 19 Mar 2021 14:53:39 +0000

Brooks

Located in Section C, Lots 77, 78 & 79

Dwight Brooks was born in the State of New York in 1849. He was a trained physician in Minneiska, a city in Wabasha and Winona counties. They later moved with his wife to St. Paul, Minnesota where he was president of the Brooks-Scanlon Lumber Company. Back in January of 1930, Dwight was traveling to visit one of their mills in Oregon, when he suffered a stroke and was taken for medical care in Palm Springs, California where he later died on January 21, 1930. Dr. Dwight Brooks cremains were brought back to Winona to be placed inside their family mausoleum.

Anna (Keyes) Brooks was originally from Michigan and moved to Winona as a child. Anna was married to Dwight Brooks in 1876. Prior to her marriage Anna had taught in the Winona schools. As the years past the couple experienced a setback when Anna (Keyes) Brooks died in Winona on July 23, 1920.

The Brooks mausoleum located on the upper terrace was ordered and overseen by Dr. Dwight F. Brooks back in 1921. The mausoleum was constructed of Mount Airy, North Carolina granite and was large enough to hold 8 coffins.

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Gage

admin — Fri, 19 Mar 2021 14:52:24 +0000

Gage

Located in Section S, Lots 66 – 68

Stephen Gage was a ten-year veteran of the Green Bay and Western Railroad, was married to Caroline “Carrie” Peter in 1895 in Winona. Caroline Peter was born in France in 1863 and came to America in 1879 when she was 16 years of age. Caroline worked and saved money to bring her family here 8 years later.

Shortly after their marriage, Caroline had a two-story double building constructed on East Third Street (now occupied by Hardt Music) for her millinery shop which she operated until 1915 when she closed it due to ill health.

Caroline died in 1945 at the age of 81 years old and was entombed in the mausoleum with other family members. The Gage vault was built by Caroline Gage in 1901 to hold her husband, Stephen P. Gage who was killed in railroad accident in Arcadia, Wisconsin. The construction of the six-crypt mausoleum, was made of Barre, Vermont granite.

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