Back in 1981, when Rich Finn took a job with Catholic Cemeteries of Columbus after graduating with a degree in finance from Ohio State University, he expected to be there only a short time before another position came along. Little did he know then that he would never leave.
Forty-two years later, Finn is retiring in July from his position as director of cemeteries for the Diocese of Columbus.
“My mother-in-law was working in the office at Resurrection Cemetery (in Lewis Center) and said one of the guys up here is moving to St. Joseph Cemetery, we have an opening (as a family service adviser), and we’re looking for somebody,” Finn recalled. “So, I applied for the job and got it.
“It had benefits. I was newly married, and I said, ‘This just might work out. I’m going to keep this until I find a “real” job.’ I’m still looking for that other job, but this one has turned out to be a real blessing for me and my family.”
Finn, 66, will continue to work until the end of the year with his successor, Deacon Jeffrey Fortkamp, to acclimate him to the job and finish some projects.
“He’s definitely been wonderful,” Deacon Fortkamp said. “We have been working together for 12 months, but before that, we knew each other. We’re sons of Columbus Our Lady of Peace Parish, and we have a family connection. As we transition, he has just been so generous with his time and his knowledge.
“He has so many solid relationships as well as the institutional knowledge as certainly do others here at the cemetery as well. I’ll definitely continue to lean on them.”
Finn spent the first 12 years working at Resurrection Cemetery before he was hired by Msgr. Joseph Hendricks, current pastor at Dublin St. Brigid of Kildare Church and former vicar general of the diocese, as the director of cemeteries in 1993.
On Finn’s office wall at St. Joseph Cemetery hangs a copy of the letter from former Bishop James Griffin in December 1993 confirming his appointment as director.
“Rich has been a very, very good director of Catholic cemeteries,” Msgr. Hendricks said. “He has been innovative. He has kept developing the cemetery properties especially at St. Joseph and Resurrection and also Holy Cross Cemetery.
“He’s been a good administrator and, on top of all of that, he’s just a wonderful, collaborative person to work with. And he’s shown great compassionate care for those who are bereaved. He’s just a very fine individual.”
In Finn’s role as director, he has worked under four bishops (Griffin, Frederick Campbell, Robert Brennan and Earl Fernandes) and with many staff members at the cemeteries.
“My co-workers have just been fantastic, the people that work in the office, the ones that work in the field,” he said. “They work so hard and are very dedicated. When you have good people working for you, it makes my job easier.
“And the people I’ve worked with at the diocesan office have just been fantastic. There’s a lot of support for the cemeteries and from our clergy and even the funeral directors. I think they realize the really good job we do here, and they’re not afraid to recommend families come here.
“And so that’s what we’re really proud of, that legacy that we have a good operation.”
Finn has overseen a number of changes through the years. Some of those include a new office and reception building at Resurrection Cemetery, updates to the Our Lady of Sorrows Chapel at St. Joseph Cemetery and adapting sections and buildings to accommodate cremated remains.
Catholic Cemeteries of Columbus consist of four cemeteries. In addition to Resurrection on the far north side and St. Joseph on the south side, there are Holy Cross on the far east side and Mount Calvary on the west side.
One of the biggest changes over the past 40 years is the acceptance of cremation. Finn estimated that 5% of burials when he started were cremated remains, but today that figure has swelled to around 40%.
“That also helps as far as space is concerned,” he said. “When we develop sections now, we have grave spaces that are smaller to accommodate both. People like that. And there are other things like benches for cremations.
“One of our master planning projects is to see what the future holds for the space that we have.”
Other than Mount Calvary, the cemeteries face no immediate danger of running out of room and still have space to grow.
St. Joseph Cemetery, which was purchased in 1907, has grown to 755 acres through the acquisition of adjacent land, some of which was from the former Camp St. Joseph that closed in the 1970s. Three diocesan bishops are buried there along with numerous priests and members of the Dominican Sisters of Peace and other religious orders.
Approximately 1,000 burials take place at Columbus’ Catholic cemeteries each year. St. Joseph Cemetery sees the most with a little over 600, followed by Resurrection with 250-300 and Holy Cross with slightly more than 100.
Finn has witnessed his share of funerals over 40 years and experienced with the families the emotions of burying a loved one.
“When a young person dies, those funerals are the hardest because they’re just usually a tragic situation,” he said. “Those are the ones you remember the most because they’re the hardest.
“With cemeteries, you meet a family, and you see them again because they keep coming back for visits. It’s not a one-time thing. Their loved ones are here, and we take care of them forever.”
One of those interactions happened a few years ago after a Memorial Day Mass at St. Joseph Cemetery.
“One lady said to me, ‘There’s a guy who worked here when my husband died back in the late ’80s, and he had brown curly hair,” Finn recounted. “That was me. She looked at me and said, ‘Oh, my goodness.’ She couldn’t believe that.”
On another occasion, he spoke with a woman whose relative’s body was disinterred at St. Joseph and transferred to Resurrection. She remembered Finn driving the vehicle that carried the body and riding along with him.
“She said that was so nice because it made it so easy,” he said. “It’s not all about the paycheck in this job. You’ve got to like what you do. And when you like what you do, it’s not work.”
In recent years, another change that Finn has seen is an increase in pre-planned funerals.
“We encourage people to pre-plan and make arrangements in advance so your family doesn’t have to deal with so many things when there’s a death,” he said. “Part of our mission is to get that message out to people to plan and make it easier.
“COVID, I think, increased people’s awareness of death and mortality, and they became interested in pre-planning and getting that done.”
That’s the business aspect of operating a cemetery. Spiritual care is also part of the job. Burying the dead is considered one of the seven corporal works of mercy.
“I get a lot of satisfaction sitting down with people and helping them get through a death,” Finn said. “The way I look at it, we are actually a ministry. We have to operate like a business, but we’re faith based.
“I think what’s why I’ve stayed in it for so long.”
Deacon Fortkamp has observed Finn balance the transaction involved in selling a product and service with the ministerial element of interment.
“The staff needs to be able to do both of those well,” Fortkamp said. “There’s just a lot that happens, and it’s an intense, emotional time. And to have someone there that can just be a good shepherd is critical. Despite all of the administrative and corporate things he needs to do as the director, you have to be able to still be very present to those families.”
A testament to Finn’s strong leadership is the longevity of the cemetery staff. A number of employees have remained in their jobs for decades.
“Rich definitely deserves credit for that,” Fortkamp said. “He creates a family culture that’s very supportive.”
The staff assuredly will miss Finn, but he’ll step away from the directorship knowing that he’s leaving the job in good hands with Deacon Fortkamp.
“He’s been working with us for a year, and he’ll be great,” Finn said. “He’ll be good to lead the cemeteries for the next 10-15 years.”
Finn plans to stay involved with the cemeteries in retirement and with the Knights of Columbus, Ancient Order of Hibernians and his family.
“You know how it is with the Church,” he said. “I think once you start working for it you never really get away from it.”