Mausoleum Row. Photo courtesy St. Joseph Museums
The annual tours of Mount Mora Cemetery will feature some “extraordinary” characters this year.
Voices of the Past interpretive tours lead visitors through the cemetery where characters come out from behind the mausoleums and tell you the story of their lives.
Museum Curator of Exhibits Trevor Tutt, who wrote the scripts for the characters this year, said the tour will start at the Wyeth-Tootle Mansion.
“The first character will be a woman who actually lived nearby the Wyeth-Tootle… she’s a very fascinating character. She had one of the oldest electric cars that she refused to get rid of in her older age,” Tutt said. “Then we will have you get on a bus and they will take you to Mount Mora Cemetery where we will tour around Mausoleum Row. It’s one of the oldest cemeteries in St. Joseph and Mausoleum Row has some amazing architecture as well as some of the most prominent figures in St. Joseph history.”
Kathy Reno with the St. Joseph Museum said two of the ‘It’ girls of St. Joseph’s golden age will lead visitors through Mausoleum Row.
“They were the socialites that all the society pages covered, so they obviously know where the bodies are buried, so to speak, and will take us through, because this is an event that we look at the history of St. Joe,” Reno said. “This year the theme is ‘Extraordinarily Extraordinary St. Joseph Leaders.’ What did these people contribute to our town, to our society as a whole, what did they do or accomplish or create that really stood out.”
Proceeds from Voices of the Past benefit the Mount Mora Cemetery Preservation and Restoration Association and the educational programming at the St. Joseph Museums
Voices of the Past will have two shows at 6 or 7 p.m. on Thursday, October 17th, and three shows at 6, 7 or 8 p.m. on Friday October 18th.
Space is limited and tickets must be purchased in advance. Tickets are available online at stjosephmuseum.org or by calling (816) 232-8471. Tickets can also be purchased at the St. Joseph Museum at 3406 Frederick Avenue.