Cleaning up and restoring  the abandoned Mount Moriah Cemetery, spanning part of Delaware County in Yeadon Borough and Philadelphia, was Paulette Rhone’s mission, writes Katie Park for The Philadelphia Inquirer.

To those who knew her, or even just passed by 61st Street and Kingsessing Avenue in Southwest Philadelphia, Rhone defined Mount Moriah and cared deeply for the 164-year-old cemetery housing more than 100,000 graves.

She had buried her husband, Gilbert, there 25 years ago, after he died of a heart attack. She wanted more time to transform its 200 acres into an urban oasis through the nonprofit Friends of Mount Moriah Cemetery, but in February, she, too, died of a heart attack.

Steps were taken Saturday to ensure she will not be forgotten: the installation of a street sign that reads “Paulette Rhone Place.”

The sign overlooks the cemetery. Far back, near a tree-lined pathway, she is buried with Gilbert in a double-deep grave on a sunny plot.

Being buried with her husband was one of Rhone’s wishes. Another is a work in progress — to keep Mount Moriah, home to soldiers from the Revolutionary War to World War II, as a clean, open green space for the community.

Read more about Paulette Rhone here.

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