Hundreds invade local cemetery

MARQUETTE — It’s an eerie feeling to walk through a cemetery knowing the names on the stones hide the stories of those beneath. Hundreds would invade Holy Cross Cemetery today; hoping to take in those fascinating stories.

The walkers in attendance follow a guide; and the guide tells the stories of select people from Marquette’s past. It’s all part of the eleventh annual cemetery walk.

One of the walk’s guides, Beth Gruber, ran through some of the stories to be covered, “We’ll be talking about a police chief who was gunned down in the line of duty (and) we’re going to be talking about a hotel king who owned a chain of hotels in the U.P.”

The tales didn’t end there.

She continued, “We’ll also be talking about a candy store owner; and the gentlemen who built the first cathedral.”

Thanks to Marquette’s rich history, the guides have a bevy of interesting stories to choose from every year.

“We try to focus on different people every time,” Gruber said, “Sometimes, we do repeats. But mostly, we do new stories every time.”

Hundreds of history loving citizens showed up and the cemetery walk’s popularity was evident in shear numbers.