East Bend Memorial Gardens in Fisher, Illinois

About

Get directions Fisher, Illinois, USA

Coordinates: 40.35482, -88.33347
Cemetery ID: 105493

Members have Contributed

Photos

Andrew S. Birky, and his wife Veronica Sutter, were among the first families to move from Morton, Tazewell County, to Fisher, Champaign County, in 1891. Andrew purchased over 200 acres of land and built a house for his family. He lived on that land near the church for only four years, until his death in 1895. The 1-acre plot Andrew donated for a cemetery is less than a mile from the church.

East Bend Mennonite Cemetery is located in the NW Quarter of the NE Quarter of Section 19 of East Bend Township, Champaign Co., IL; East Bend Memorial Gardens lies directly across the road in Section 18. The original cemetery donated by Andrew Birky was one acre and was organized in 1895. According to Cemeteries of Champaign County, IL - A Location Guide with Plat Maps (Fonda D. Baselt and Josephine F. Moeller, copyright 1984), Christian and Mary Gut (Good) deeded more land to the cemetery in 1923.

In 1969, when additional land was needed to serve the much larger church, the cemetery was extended to the other side of the small country road and named East Bend Memorial Gardens. The two acres were purchased from church members, David and Martha Birky Yoder. This section holds no upright stones.