Article Contributed on: 2/19/2009 10:25:15 AM
In the last 102 years, more than 130,000 interments have taken place at Olinger Crown Hill Mortuary and Cemetery, 7777 W. 29th Ave. in Wheat Ridge.
The care of this labyrinth of plots, which spans more than 250 acres, is in the hands of
Wade Bratten.
As superintendent of grounds, Bratten oversees everything from the physical labor involved in the burial itself, ground maintenance and the cemetery's aesthetics.
"What we want most of all is respect for the families and feel for what they're going through," Bratten said.
One of the most important aspects of Bratten's job comes from that respect - the need for accuracy. Before any digging is done, a plot goes through multiple departmental checks and is marked with colored flags to ensure everything is in line with the families' desires.
"You just don't want any wrongful burials," Bratten said. "You do the family a disservice if you have that."
Once a plot is given the all-clear green flag, Bratten organizes a digging crew. A backhoe is used to create standard graves or in the case of cremation, graves are dug by hand.
Bratten requires at least 48 hours notice for burials to allot for unforeseen obstacles - like having to bring in a jackhammer if the ground is frozen.
Bratten also has a set-up crew, which prepares the graveside service, a foreman in charge of lowering caskets into the ground, a crew to fill the plot back in with dirt and cover the area with sod and a team to set headstone markers.
"We try to get it looking back to normal as soon as possible," Bratten said.
Basic ground maintenance like mowing and line trimming, Bratten contracts out, but personally picks out the flora for the cemetery's gardens and flowerbeds.
"It's always pansies in the winter," Bratten said. "They look great come Memorial Day and anything else that comes up at that time just looks like sticks."
The cemetery's layout, with separate facilities like the cremation garden, family graves and mausoleum tower, also allows for Crown Hill to accommodate a variety of burial customs.
"I never really thought about it when I first started, but there are a lot of different rituals," Bratten said. "Each culture has a different idea of what they want."
Bratten has been doing cemetery grounds work for 27 years, starting out at 18 with a summer job in Fort Collins. He said he enjoys working outside, and although it's gotten easier through the years, his job does have a strong emotional component.
"There are still challenging things that come up."