A Nearly Accurate History of Sunrise Beach
By Dick Hart (deceased)
Written for the 25th Anniversary Celebration of the City in November of 1998
recovered and updated in 2005 and continued by others (I hope, hjs)
Page 19 of 19
appearance, improvements proposed by individual families. And of
course the ever present question of funding to support approved
projects. Early on it was decided not to charge for plots and make the
family responsible for individual spaces used. That leaves the
association with one source of funding-- Voluntary Contributions. If
that interests you the mailing address is 311 Sunrise Drive, Box C,
Sunrise Beach, Texas 78643. Basically the cemetery is divided into two
parts, this has been carried forward form the original plan, one part for
Tate family members and the remainder for the Sunrise Beach
community that has grown up around the cemetery. In the community
section use is restricted to someone living in Sunrise Beach or single
children of Beach residents. The Board is the final authority for any
decisions concerning interment. The current members of the board are
President Paul Looney, Vice President R. J. Fisher, and Secretary Ella
Mastin. The small gate remains open at all times but unauthorized
vehicular use has made it necessary to lock the large gate. Board
members should be contacted for access in the event none can be
reached a key is available at City Hall to be used in emergency. There
is no question as to the value of Sandy Mountain Cemetery to the
residents of our community, both for the historical importance
associated with the land we now occupy and the practicality of the
facility. The board needs and deserves the help and support of the
community in maintaining the grounds and controlling use and
improvements that might conflict with the by-laws of the association.
One individual has not been name in this article, but no discussion of
the cemetery would be complete without the name of Berl P. Guyton.
In 1969 Mr. Guyton undertook the project of listing and attempting to
identify all the graves and markers, his revision of the original drawing
listed 73 graves. In 1982 he revised his drawings to reflect a new total
of 107.
An expression of thanks goes to past and present volunteers never
hurts--So here is my personal Thank You !
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