Cleanup is a family affair at the Longbranch Cemetery

The annual cleanup at the Longbranch Cemetery is a family affair. Betty Watkinson and her grandson Che, 9, joined about two dozen people tidy up this local institution.

The Longbranch Cemetery was donated to the community by Nicoline Olsen for $1 in 1902.

Jack Brook, of McMinnville, Ore., got on his hands and knees, beads of sweat forming on his bald head, pulling weeds on one corner of the Longbranch Cemetery Saturday morning.

Brook is on the Key Peninsula because of a genealogical journey to find pieces to his family puzzle.

“My great-great-grandfather is buried over there,” he said, pointing to a corner on the front south side of the cemetery. “My original people came here in 1847 from somewhere back east.”

His journey began when he started researching his family’s origins a few years ago. His sister had told him that they might have relatives buried somewhere in Western Washington. Brook’s quest took him first to Gig Harbor, then Harstine Island — where a brother of his great-great-grandfather was buried.

Jack Brook gets in the weeds helping clean up the area around where his great-great-grandfather Albert Brook is buried.

“We did not know much about my family,” he said, explaining that his father was never big on sharing family details. Brook’s father was one of nine children, and the family had scattered all over the country.

“We’re kind of like the compass rose,” he said.

Yet, somehow, the 73-year-old retired electrician said, “I keep ending back in the Pacific Northwest.”

Sam Watkinson, armed with a weed whacker, helped out at the annual cemetery cleanup Saturday.

Ruth Thompson, whose family have plots at the cemetery, helped out at the cleanup Saturday.

So, there he was Saturday, joining about two dozen people armed with weed whackers, branch trimmers and chainsaws at the Longbranch Cemetery for the annual ritual of clearing brush and helping to keep this local institution tidy. This picturesque hill along the Key Peninsula Highway was turned into a work zone by family members of those buried here and residents of the community who came to help.

The annual event is organized by a five-person Longbranch Cemetery Association board. Like a lot of things that happen on this end of the Peninsula, it is neighbors helping neighbors. Even the two-acre parcel the cemetery sits on was donated by Nicoline Olsen, a local resident, for $1 in 1902. Olsen is buried at the cemetery next to her husband under a young Douglas fir.

This was a family affair. Che Watkinson, 9, his father Sam and grandmother Betty were there clipping, trimming and hauling out branches and weeds.

Betty Watkinson clearing fern branches around the Rickert family plot, where Marvin “Marv” Rickert is buried. Rickert’s claim to fame is that he once hit a home run during the 1948 World Series for the Boston Braves.

Marge Radonich, 84, was there because she said “I may have the most family buried here.” On her count, she said she has 43 relatives buried at the cemetery — including first cousin Marvin “Marv” Rickert, whose claim to fame is that he once hit a home run for the Boston Braves in the 1948 World Series.

Radonich, a Longbranch native, still lives in the house on Drayton’s Passage where she was born in 1928.

“The house still has the same sink I was bathe in as a baby,” she says proudly.

With a big smile, Radonich carried handfuls of branches and weeds alongside neighbors and those who had driven south to help clean family plots.

Plots in the cemetery go for $200, but can only be bought by residents and those who own property south of the Home, Wash., bridge.

Bill Ellingson, of Tacoma, trims the grass around his late wife Peggy’s family plot.

Bill Ellingson, of Tacoma, was there helping clean his late wife Peggy’s family plot.

“You have to,” Ellingson said, laughing. “If you don’t, they will ask you for a $20 donation.”

The former newsman seemed to enjoy being there, swapping stories with others as they trimmed grass and pulled weeds together.

“It’s kind of fun,” he added.

And everyone in the community are encouraged to help said Donna Daily, a member of the cemetery board.

Beaming, Daily asks: “Isn’t this a nice way to meet your neighbors?”

This local landmark sits on a picturesque hill along the Key Peninsula Highway and had its first burial in 1905.