mausoleum

Small country cemeteries dot the landscape, tucked here and there at the edges of corn and soybean fields. One curious cemetery has a turnstyle, but most are very simple places with modest headstones. Sometimes there's a large obelisk to mark the resting place of an original settler. I was quite surprised when I stopped at St. Mary's Cemetery in Maple Park and found this small but ornate mausoleum. Perfect carving in the cool gray marble tells me that Dora A. and William T. Hodge are buried here. The glass beneath the bronze carving seemed to glow, and I walked closer. To my surprise, when I looked through the glass into the space, I discovered there was a beautiful stained glass window on the opposite wall, backlit by the setting sun.