Three women make a difference
City of Valdez CemeteryValdez, Alaska
When Judy Londo and two Valdez friends discovered that there were a number of families in the community that had no place to inter their loved ones’ ashes, the three women decided that needed to change. Valdez, a city of about 4,000 residents, is the northernmost ice-free port in North America. It is also the termination point of the 800 mile long Trans-Alaska Pipeline System. As the women were researching columbaria, someone in another part of the state told them about Paul Eickhof of Eickhof Columbaria, Inc. When they contacted him, “He answered all our questions,” says Judy. “It was such a delight to work with him.” Since the cemetery in Valdez is owned by the city, the women organized a quiet campaign aimed at obtaining the city council’s approval to fund the purchase of an Eickhof columbarium. Needless to say, they were persuasive––and successful. The city council approved the project. The city chose Eickhof’s York columbarium, the largest pre-assembled unit built by the company. With 96 niches, it is five feet high and, together with its capstone, a solid piece of magnificent granite six inches thick, the entire unit weighs a total of 15,000 pounds. Shipping the columbarium to Valdez is challenging. The first leg of the journey is by truck from Eickhof’s manufacturing facility in Crookston, MN, to Seattle, where it is placed on a barge for the trip to Valdez. The committee of three women approached a stevedoring company in their town about moving it from the barge to the cemetery. They arranged with a local concrete company to pour the necessary concrete footing for the columbarium. Both companies donated their services. Like all other Eickhof columbaria, the York model is designed to meet the most
demanding winter and weather conditions. The simplicity of its patented niche locking system made it the right choice for Valdez.
The York model being assembled at the Eickhof manufacturing facility in Crookston, MN. The 7”-10” diameter, 6” thick capstone with rock finish edge is being prepared for installation on the York columbarium, prior to shipping to Alaska.
