What Do You Do As A Cemetery Caretaker?

by | Last updated on January 24, 2024

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Your duties include

cutting the lawn, pruning trees, keeping vegetation trim

and even, and planting grass over new grave sites. As a caretaker, you may have additional responsibilities at a burial ground such as repairing gravestones and preparing a gravesite for a funeral.

What do you need to become a cemetery caretaker?

A person who wants to

become a cemetery caretaker will

usually

have to be

in good physical condition and

be

capable of not only performing physical work, but also operating machinery. He may

have

to

use

shovels and wheelbarrows in caring for the grounds as well as to dig graves and move soil.

What are the duties of a cemetery caretaker?

Your duties include

cutting the lawn, pruning trees, keeping vegetation trim and even, and planting grass over new grave sites

. As a caretaker, you may have additional responsibilities at a burial ground such as repairing gravestones and preparing a gravesite for a funeral.

What is the caretaker of a cemetery called?


A sexton

is the office of the person or persons who are in charge of a cemetery. They are often referred to as the caretaker of a cemetery. Churches also have a sexton for the maintenance of the church building and/or the surrounding graveyard. In larger buildings, such as cathedrals, a team of sextons may be employed.

How much money do grave keepers make?

Annual Salary Hourly Wage Top Earners $44,500 $21 75th Percentile $33,500 $16 Average

$30,995

$15
25th Percentile $23,000 $11

What is a cemetery keeper?


A gravedigger

is a cemetery worker who is responsible for digging a grave prior to a funeral service.

What jobs are there in a cemetery?

You may find a position as

a caretaker or groundskeeper

whose duties include caring for the grounds of the cemetery and tending to the graves or other memorial markers. Cemeteries may also have a gravedigger whose responsibilities involve digging and placing the remains in the grave.

Can you get paid to clean gravestones?

The salaries of Grave Cleaners in the US range from

$18,460 to $39,520

, with a median salary of $25,030 . The middle 60% of Grave Cleaners makes $25,030, with the top 80% making $39,520.

How do I get a job as a gravedigger?

Meet Education and Training Requirements


A high school diploma or equivalency

is the minimum requirement for most grave digger jobs. Conventional cemeteries may prefer or require prior training in the use of light construction equipment, such as backhoes.

Is grave digger still a job?

Gravediggers, also known as cemetery workers or burial ground custodians,

dig graves in cemeteries for burials

. It sounds creepy, but it’s a job that must be done whenever someone dies and chooses to be buried. There is plenty of demand for this gig because people die everyday.

Do graves get dug up after 100 years?

By

the time a body has been buried for 100 years

, very little of what we recognize as the “body” is left. According to Business Insider, you can’t even count on your bones being intact by year 80. After the collagen inside them breaks down completely, bones essentially become fragile, mineralized husks.

How long are bodies kept in cemeteries?

By 50 years in, your tissues will have liquefied and disappeared, leaving behind mummified skin and tendons. Eventually these too will disintegrate, and after

80 years

in that coffin, your bones will crack as the soft collagen inside them deteriorates, leaving nothing but the brittle mineral frame behind.

Why are graves dug 6 feet?

Six feet also helped keep bodies out of the hands of body snatchers. Medical schools in the early 1800s bought cadavers for anatomical study and dissection, and some people supplied the demand by digging up fresh corpses. Gravesites reaching six feet

helped prevent farmers from accidentally plowing up bodies

.

What are creepy jobs?

  • Bomb Technician.
  • Crab Fisherman.
  • Crime Scene Cleaners.
  • Entomologist.
  • Epidemiologists.
  • Forensic Psychologists.
  • Herpetologist.
  • Medical Laboratory Technologist.

What are the highest paying jobs?

  • The Methodology We Used.
  • Anesthesiologists: $261,730*
  • Surgeons: $252,040*
  • Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons: $237,570.
  • Obstetricians-Gynecologists: $233,610*
  • Orthodontists: $230,830.
  • Prosthodontists: $220,840.
  • Psychiatrists: $220,430*

How deep is a grave?

The bottom line is that

cemetery graves

in the United States are not always 6 feet

deep

, and for single gravesites, roughly four feet (1.22 meters)

deep

is closer to the norm. That said, some cemeteries offer double- or even triple-

depth

plots, in which caskets are “stacked” vertically in the same gravesite.

Maria Kunar
Author
Maria Kunar
Maria is a cultural enthusiast and expert on holiday traditions. With a focus on the cultural significance of celebrations, Maria has written several blogs on the history of holidays and has been featured in various cultural publications. Maria's knowledge of traditions will help you appreciate the meaning behind celebrations.