St Agnes Cemetery New York

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Syracuse, NY -- Andrew Liszewski grew up at the foot of St. Agnes Cemetery in Syracuse, building forts in the woods and whizzing his bike down the steep hills. As an adult, he took a job there, digging the graves of fellow parishioners for the Roman Catholic Church.

Liszewski and five other gravediggers tell 25 years’ worth of stories about how tricky it is to drive a lawnmower on hills and about the pride they take in preparing a proper burial site, then disappearing into the hills when the families come to grieve.

They tell ghoulish stories about the times they had to exhume bodies for criminal investigations. They have also had the misfortune of discovering dead bodies they did not expect to find in the cemetery — people who killed themselves among the gravestones.

Liszewski came to work one day and found the burning body of a woman who had been killed, stuffed in the trunk of her car and driven around for five days. When it came time for the murderer to take his mother to the grocery store, he dumped the body in the cemetery and set it on fire. “Almost everybody here has found someone,” Liszewski said.

One of the most surprising stories they tell, however, is about what a great career it has been to dig graves for the church. These are union jobs that pay $15.75 an hour and come with health insurance and a pension.

Liszewski thought he would work there long enough to bury his parents in their reserved plots at the top of the hill. But, using his dark sense of humor, he said they had better hurry up and die if they want him to dig their graves.

The church notified the six gravediggers in July that it planned to dissolve the nonprofit corporation that operates the cemeteries, essentially breaking the labor contract with SEIU Local 200 United.

The church wants to move all of its 13 cemeteries under one organization and streamline the operation, said Danielle Cummings, assistant chancellor/director for the diocese. She said there is no plan to negotiate a new union contract when the current one expires at the end of August. She said the workers have been longtime, loyal workers.

“It’s not union busting. It doesn’t go against the teachings of the church,” she said. “It’s responding to the economy at this time and responding to the different ways we need to operate.”

The gravediggers said they were told they could reapply for their jobs, but there is no guarantee they would be hired or paid the same salaries and benefits. The meeting was called for the same day, half an hour before the 3:30 quitting time, which the workers call “3 thirsty.” When it ended, they gathered for beers and called their union representative.

William C. Meehan | Suffolk Times

Longtime Rockville Centre resident and current Southold resident William C. Meehan died July 30, 2011, at the age of 83, at Stony Brook University Medical Center.

Bill, as he was known to friends and family, leaves behind his wife of 58 years, Therese; eight children ­— Mary, of Chesapeake, Va.; William, of East Williston, N.Y.; Francis (Joan), of Centereach, N.Y.; Daniel (Carol), of Rockville Centre, N.Y.; Kevin (Eileen), of Rockville Centre, N.Y.; Richard (Linda), of Ridgewood, N.Y.; James (Torea), of Bethel, Conn.; and Elizabeth, of Long Beach, N.Y. Bill was the proud grandparent of 12 and great-grandparent of one, soon to be two. Bill is also survived by his two sisters, Eileen Adamson of Bradenton, Fla., and Sister Anne Meehan of Belglade, Fla.

Bill was born in Brooklyn on June 26, 1928, the son of Anna and William. His family soon moved to East Rockaway, where he attended St. Raymond’s Parochial School and East Rockaway High School. Upon graduating from St. John’s University in 1951 with a degree in business, he embarked upon a long career in the Insurance industry, spending most of his career with Fred S. James & Co. of New York.

Bill married Therese Copin in 1953. After a short stint in Levittown, the Meehans moved to Cambridge Street in 1961 and lived in the village until 1994. Bill was an active member of the RVC community, which included his role as Scout Master of St. Agnes Troop 163. Bill often reminisced about the glory days of raising his family on Cambridge Street during the 1970s with its large families and the annual Cambridge Street block parties.

Bill lived a very active life that included fishing, hiking, boating and vacationing in the Adirondack Mountains and Florida. Bill’s most enjoyable times were spent with his family at the beach on the North Fork of Long Island. Bill and Terry settled into a more leisurely lifestyle in 1994 when they moved permanently to the North Fork, starting with Nassau Point in Cutchogue and then finally in Southold.

They spent the last 10 years at Founders Village in Southold, where Bill was an active member of the community board. Bill continued to live a life of charity and service, which is reflected in the countless hours he spent as a volunteer at Eastern Long Island Hospital and Island Harvest. Bill was also active in the Knights of Columbus and was a Church Lector at St. Agnes R.C. Church in Greenport, N.Y.

Visitation will be held Thursday, Aug. 4, from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 p.m. at Coster-Heppner Funeral Home on Main Road in Cutchogue. A Mass of Christian Burial will be held Friday, Aug. 5, at 10 a.m. at St. Agnes Church in Greenport. Interment will follow at Sacred Heart Cemetery in Cutchogue.

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