FAQs
Below you will find some of the most commonly asked questions we receive at Willow River Cemetery
Does the city of Hudson own and run the cemetery?
The easy answer is no.
Since its inception in 1850, Willow River Cemetery has always been an independently run entity not affiliated with the city of Hudson. As of 2025, there are just 2 employees on-staff; caretaker Mike Miller and an assistant. The staff size is small to keep operating costs to a minimum.
There are a lot of tipped or broken monuments, and many buried flat markers. Why doesn’t the cemetery fix them or clean them off?
Just like a house, each individual family owns their headstones and markers, so it’s up to the family to get them repaired or lifted, and they can do this by calling a monument company to get it taken care of. Many of the upright monuments can weigh upwards of 500+ lbs, and Willow River Cemetery doesn’t have the equipment necessary to take care of the heavy lifting involved in fixing or straightening monuments..
Speaking of gravestones, why are so many flat markers semi-buried and partially covered up?
Flat markers in the past 25 or so years have been installed with a cement border (which we highly recommend), as this keeps the writing on the marker centered and visible. But in the past, most flat markers were installed without a cement border, and over time that allowed gravity to take over and “sink” the marker. Also, 75 years ago or more many flat markers were installed on top of a large hole filled with concrete. Once the marker adhered to the concrete, the weight over time pulled the markers into the ground. In trying to lift or straighten some of these markers, we’ve found that there can be upwards of 3-4 feet of concrete underneath, which adds hundreds of pounds to the markers weight, thus making them sink.
What is the best way to get in touch with the caretaker?
The caretaker’s office hours are officially listed as 7am – 4pm Monday – Friday, and there is no true office area to find him. During the warmer months he will probably be somewhere in the cemetery mowing/mulching/weed whipping, or he might be meeting with families for grave purchases or upcoming burials. The easiest way to get in touch with him is always via phone (715)386-8560, and if he’s unavailable to take your call, just leave him a message and he’ll get back to you as soon as he can.
There used to be trash cans and pet waste containers throughout the cemetery. What happened to them?
We used to provide the trash cans and pet waste containers as a courtesy for our visitors to utilize when needing to throw out their trash when they were in the cemetery. But over the past few years the cans were being misused for much more than just simple trash (people cleaning out their cars, bottles of alcohol, bags of houssehold trash, etc), as well as people not putting the pet waste in the correct container. Add to that the animals pulling food waste out and scattering it throughout the cemetery, and the decision was made by the board to get rid them altogether for sanitary reasons.
Why aren’t flowers or decorations allowed on either of the columbaria?
While we used to allow decorations and flowers, it became too difficult drawing a line on what was appropriate while also taking other niche owners wishes into consideration. So our board made the tough decision that decorations or flowers of any kind would not be permitted.