Like many of us, Mmpedro began this journey researching her own family tree and finding family gravesites. Now, she and her husband share their journey at Find a Grave documenting headstones and researching. When she creates a memorial, she’ll dive in and research newspapers and other resources to ensure her contribution is correct. Mmpedro also is an amateur photographer and appreciates the beauty found photographing headstones and cemeteries.

In late fall of 2024, Mmpedro noticed that there were 240 photo requests in All Souls Cemetery in Chardon, Ohio. This is a large cemetery with 115 developed acres! She thought about the people that had requested these photos and the closure and information from the stones that can help those families and then got to work. Here’s her story about getting started with photo volunteering at Find a Grave:

I downloaded the photo requests so they were easily printable. I was lucky that the cemetery had maps for each section on their website. I printed them, highlighted each grave site I was looking for, and followed my maps like a treasure hunt of sorts. Most of the graves there have flat in-ground stones, so they are much harder to see and to photograph due to grass and dirt covering the stones. Many of the older ones have been “eaten up” by the ground over time and I have had to pull sod away to make them visible again. (I carry a little bag with me with rags, a tiny soft brush, a plastic scraper, and scissors, so that I can clean them up.) The newer sections of the cemetery now allow upright headstones and monuments which are SO much easier to photograph, not to mention to FIND!

From that day in October through November (when the leaf cover became too much on the flat markers), I fulfilled a total of 216 photo requests. I added a few hundred more new memorials with photos as well. Over the winter, the photo requests added up again to well over 250.

The following spring I started again. From March 19, 2025 to about June, I fulfilled about 220 more photo requests, and again added hundreds of new memorials and photos. By fall of 2025, the total number of requests was down to about 50.

As I’m working in a cemetery, I do extensive research on other genealogy sites as well as the cemetery burial records. I found individuals buried in different cemeteries or not buried in this cemetery, so I was able to report those as issues on Find a Grave through the photo request.

I’m now a little over 2 years into this and I have added thousands of photos to existing memorials, added hundreds of new memorials, and fulfilled close to 1000 photo requests. It turns out I’ve visited over 100 cemeteries here in NE Ohio in 8 counties!

This year I’ve been helping document burials in a cemetery near me. I’ve been going through the sexton’s records and adding memorials and grave photos if needed, adding burial locations according to the burial map, and researching and linking family memorials together. In my Find a Grave journey, I’ve picked up some tips:

Sometimes you need to actually TOUCH a stone and trace its engravings if you cannot clearly read them, such as numbers for year of birth or death.

ALWAYS LOOK ON THE BACK. I have found many “previously unknown” burials were buried in the same grave as maybe parents or other family members, and other interesting information engraved on the back of the stone or monument.

I’ve also learned that the work we are doing makes a difference in people’s lives. When I photograph graves I pause for a moment and speak the person’s name out loud, as everyone deserves that. Earlier this year, I photographed a beautiful monument for a little girl and said her name. Her grave was decorated with flowers, stuffed animals, and bright outdoor decorations.

A few months later I received a message from the mother of the little girl. She was thankful that someone else remembered her daughter and photographed her monument. In her message, she said “with loss sometimes it feels like the world moves on and forgets” and that “taking a moment for a picture with her name means more than words can express.” It was a tender message, full of thankfulness. She mentioned that “nobody says her name anymore” and it brought me to tears remembering her decorated monument and saying her name. Messages and connections like this one are a reminder of the importance of this work and why I continue to help and volunteer.

As the summer winds down, the weather cools and my days of tending to the flowers and gardens taper off, I am looking forward to walking many more miles in the cemeteries. My hiking boots and camera are ready.