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Eagle Scout candidate on a mission to revive Orland Park cemetery

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Published  September 2, 2024 7:54am CDT
Good News Guarantee
FOX 32 Chicago

Eagle Scout candidate on a mission to revive Orland Park cemetery

Jimmy Sullivan, 15, is working to restore a neglected 19th-century cemetery in Orland Park as part of his Eagle Scout project.

The Brief

    • 15-year-old Jimmy Sullivan is working to restore a neglected 19th-century cemetery in Orland Park as part of his Eagle Scout project.
    • The cemetery, home to some of Orland Park’s early settlers, has been in disrepair for years due to a lack of funds for maintenance.
    • Jimmy's project, estimated to cost over $20,000, involves repairing headstones and adding signs.

ORLAND PARK, Ill. - An Orland Park teenager is uncovering the past to earn his Eagle Scout badge.  He’s on a mission to bring a cemetery that dates back to the late 1800s, back to life. 

Jimmy Sullivan, 15, remembers the first time he spotted it.  An old resting place, covered with overgrown trees, and crumbling headstones. 

"I remember asking my dad once, what was this," he said.  "It's some of the first settlers of Orland Park, even the second mayor of Orland Park is buried here."

The cemetery is located off Harlem Avenue, next to a funeral home. The village has been aware of it for a century, but didn’t have the funds to repair it. 

"I was so excited to hear that Jimmy was taking on this project.  It's a huge project. Just the state of the cemetery it's really sad, there are a lot of important people here," said Libby Paulson, the Heritage Sites Supervisor for the Village of Orland Park.  

"With these old cemeteries, the grave sites themselves were the family's responsibility to maintain and the markers too, and as families die off or move away, now there's no one to maintain them," said Brad Bettenhausen, the President Emeritus of the Tinley Park Historical Society.  

"Thankfully we have somebody like Jimmy who's spearheading a project that will start moving things in the right direction," he added.  

Jimmy estimates the project, which includes repairing headstones and making signs, will cost more than $20,000. He’s already busy fundraising.  

"It's a good idea to make lives better, even if it's people that aren't even alive anymore," said Jimmy.

If you’d like to help with Jimmy’s Eagle Scout Mission, you can log onto GermanMethodist.org.