Blue Ridge Cemetery chapel gets extreme makeover

“The cemetery is not for the dead; it’s for the living. It’s for people to recognize and show respect for their family. The Torah doesn’t say you have to love your parents; it says you have to honor them.”

That’s Seymour Krinsky’s explanation for why he has served on Kehilath Israel Synagogue’s cemetery committee since 1965.

Over the past couple of years, Krinsky and committee co-chair Bill Schifman have led a beautification project at Blue Ridge Cemetery that includes a $100,000-plus makeover of the Jack Chernikoff-Louis Dolginow Memorial Chapel on the grounds. The bulk of the money to pay for chapel renovations came from the estate of Ben and Eunice Ruben, the late aunt and uncle of cemetery committee member Susan Osman.

“They were lifelong members of KI and very supportive of all its efforts,” said Susan Osman’s husband, Steve Osman, who also serves on the cemetery committee. “They loved the chapel and hated that it had fallen into a state of disrepair.”

The A-frame building with two star-shaped windows was erected in 1974. The top floor is a sanctuary with wooden pews. The lower level is the caretaker’s living quarters.

The renovation work involved fixing the windows and lighting in the sanctuary, replacing the carpeting, repairing the bathrooms, refinishing the pews and more.

Some work has also been done to the grounds, adding plantings and beautifying the area around the flagpole. And the cemetery committee has lately sponsored two annual “mitzvah days,” at which KI members spruce the place up.

Schifman said Blue Ridge Cemetery is in sound financial shape, with adequate funds in its perpetual-maintenance account and room for perhaps another 75 years’ worth of burials. Because funds were raised for the recent work, the perpetual-maintenance account did not have to be tapped.

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