[HistoricCemeterieslistserv] Cemetery fund donated in Baker City

[GILL Kuri * OPRD]

The Baker County Historical Society and the family of Virginia Kostol are honored to announce the establishment of The Virginia L. Kostol Fund, an annual fund established through the Oregon Community Foundation, dedicated to the care and maintenance of the Chinese Cemetery.

"Virginia Kostol was a vital member to the Baker County Historical Society's mission, and she served in numerous leadership roles. Her dedication to the development and maintenance of the Chinese Cemetery was unwavering," said Ginger Savage, President of the Baker County Historical Society.

The cemetery, located east of 1-84 on Windmill Lane, served as a resting place for members of the Chinese community who resided in Baker County from 1880 thru 1940.  Many of those remains were returned to their homeland.  Today, the only remaining marked grave belongs to Lee Pak Chue, 1882-1938.

Nothing but dirt and sagebrush in 1987, numerous volunteers from throughout Baker County began work to recognize this important site in our local history. Dedicated in 1992, the cemetery reminds us of the important economic and cultural contributions made by the Chinese to the development of our community.
Kostol Family Quote

Virginia Kostol passed away in December 2020, at the age of 94. Her passion for family, friends and community service is well-known by those who knew her, and her generosity will be felt by many in Baker County for generations to come.

"We are so grateful to Virginia and the Kostol family for a wonderful gift of historical preservation," said Savage. "We look forward to honoring Virginia and her commitment to this important chapter in Baker County's history."

The Chinese Cemetery is owned by the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Society of Portland.  The Baker County Historical Society is charged with its care and community education efforts. To date, thousands of local volunteer hours have been dedicated to preservation of this heritage cemetery.


  *   End -


[New Picture (1)]

Kuri Gill (she, her, hers) |  Oregon Heritage Grants & Outreach Coordinator
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Oregon Heritage, Oregon Parks and Recreation Department
Oregon Commission on Historic Cemeteries
Desk:  (503)986-0685 cell: (503)383-6787
725 Summer St NE, Ste C
Salem, Oregon 97301

Visit our website<http://www.oregonheritage.org/>, Like us on Facebook<https://www.facebook.com/OregonHeritage>, Visit our Blog<http://oregonheritage.wordpress.com/>, Join the Oregon Heritage News e-news<https://omls.oregon.gov/mailman/listinfo/Heritage>.

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <https://omls.oregon.gov/pipermail/historiccemeteries/attachments/20211202/733f1cf7/attachment.html>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image001.png
Type: image/png
Size: 10888 bytes
Desc: image001.png
URL: <https://omls.oregon.gov/pipermail/historiccemeteries/attachments/20211202/733f1cf7/attachment.png>