Mothers and fathers memorial benches in Helper's cemetery bring comfort to family members

Photo courtesy of Louise Hamilton

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The mothers' and fathers' benches in the Helper Mountain View Cemetery bring comfort to family members. There are 395 names on the mothers' bench and 85 on the fathers'.

HELPER — The engraved names on the mothers’ and fathers’ benches placed to the right of the altar in the front of the Helper Mountain View Cemetery bring comfort to Carbon County residents.

"I never go to the cemetery without looking at my parent’s names on the benches," said Michael O’Shea, Diocesan Council of Catholic Women (DCCW) president, Helper resident and member of Saint Anthony of Pauda parishioner. "It’s just important for us to have them there."

On the left side of the altar is a bench for the unborn children the Knights of Columbus placed, said Louise Hamilton, who came up with the idea of the mothers and fathers benches. "After seeing the bench my husband, Charles Hamilton, had made when he was Grand Knight, I thought I would like to have a bench made for mothers," said Louise Hamilton, who was then president of Saint Anthony of Padua’s Catholic Women’s Council. "I was serving my second term and I wanted something I could say was my accomplishment," she said.

The mothers’ bench was made in 2003 and was overwhelmingly successful, so later a fathers’ bench was made. The mothers’ bench says "A mother’s love is everlasting," and the father’s bench says, "The gentle love of a father leaves a legacy of character."

Every year plaques are added for $25 a name and there continues to be a demand. "We have received over 400 names from all over the country," said Hamilton. "They don’t have to be buried in the Helper City Cemetery, and actually they don’t even have to be deceased. That came about when Michelle Tallerico, a Helper resident and young mother was dying of cancer. Her mother wanted Michelle’s name placed on the bench. The council decided we’re all going to die sooner or later and it is comforting to go to the cemetery and see the benches, so what does it matter if you’re deceased or not. It was comforting for Michelle to know her name could be placed on the bench."

Since then names of others who are not deceased have been placed on the benches. Hamilton wanted the benches to be a peaceful place for people to go on Memorial Day or other times to sit and be comforted.

"It isn’t likely that people who don’t have a connection with Helper will want their name on the benches," said Hamilton. "But if they are connected to Carbon County at all, they seem to want their names on the benches. Helper is a good little town and the cemetery is gorgeous. People tell me it is such a great tribute to their family members."

The proceeds from this project go to the St. Anthony Council of Catholic Women to help sponsor women who cannot afford to attend the annual DCCW Convention, or to help with parish needs, said O’Shea. "Louise has been very selfless and I have to give her a lot of credit for her work.

"I love to look for our plaque, "The Bianco Mothers;" that is my mother, my sisters and me," said O’Shea. "It seems everybody I run in to can relate to someone in Carbon County. It is a very loving community, even though we have struggled for a long time with unemployment and businesses closing. My grandkids love it because there is a Big John statue and no stoplights. Al Veltri, a longtime resident and pharmacist, used to say ‘Helper had everything – the mountains, a river, and a beautiful community,’ and we are still very connected."