Project number: [JOWBR, USA-02896]

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MASONIC MEMORIAL PARK Temple Beth Hatfiloh Cemetery and The Family Cemetery at TUMWATER, WASHINGTON

The traditional cemetery is consecrated. The earliest gravestones in that cemetery date from the 1870s. The Olympia Lodge of the Masons formed the cemetery in July 1857. The Jewish portion was established in 1874 when the Hebrew Benevolent Society of Puget Sound purchased three acres of land in the cemetery for $50. In 1955, it was turned over to Temple Beth Hatfiloh, which then purchased another section of land within the Memorial Park and called the new section The Family Cemetery. This section provides an alternative for those who wish to be cremated or buried next to non-Jewish spouse.It is intended for the reality of a Temple today – Jews and their non-Jewish partners, non-Jewish parents, etc. Temple Beth Hatfiloh Cemetery and The Family Center, Tumwater, WA, USA. There are 115 burials total through May, 2015. Located in the Masonic Memorial Park.

For more information, history and directions please go to http://www.jgsws.org/cemeteryproject.php. For further information on any of those interred at a TBH cemetery, consult the Masonic Memorial Park website, grave site lookup – http://www.masonicmemorialpark.com/index.php/grave-site-lookup. This in itself will tell you some information, e.g. the location of the plot, a birth date and a reference to the funeral service provider.

The funeral service provider will have some additional information, next of kin for example. The Death Certificate of the State of Washington will have the decedent's parents' names (name of father, maiden name of mother) if that information is provided by a member of the decedent's family or another close, reliable person. A copy of the state's death certificate costs $20.”

Thank you to Deborah K. Freedman who compiled and researched this information with the help of Jeff Freedman, Herman Kleiner, Fav Witenberg, Si Rose, and Hilde Slotnick. Thanks to Nancy JG Adelson, WA State JOWBR Chair and 1st Vice President of Jewish Genealogical Society of Washington State.

Cemetery gate.

Overview of cemetery.