Sisters of St. Joseph Cemetery
By Patrick Kavanagh
History of Women in Forest Lawn Lawn Cemetery
Section 36a
In 1910 the property of the Sisters of St. Joseph Cemetery was conveyed to Forest Lawn so that the cemetery could more easily provide perpetual care at the same level as other burial areas in Forest Lawn.
There are almost 550 Sisters buried in this location. The large monument at the center of the ground was donated by one of the graduating classes of Mount St. Joseph's High School.
The Order traces its roots to Le Puy-en Velay, France in 1646 when social, economic, political and spiritual upheavals divided families and left people ill, impoverished and powerless. Small groups of women banded together in the villages of central France to dedicate themselves totally to God and their suffering neighbors.
In 1836 some Sisters were sent to the United States. Six Sisters came to Carondelet, just outside of St. Louis, Missouri. In 1854, Buffalo's Bishop Timon called the Sisters to the Buffalo Diocese, where they settled in Canandaigua. A novitiate and motherhouse were soon established in the City of Buffalo.
Today they remain an energetic and viable part of the community with offices at Main and Humboldt Streets, Agassiz Circle, and in Clarence.
