(bright music) - Will you consider this?

You're going along in life, trying to figure out exactly what you wanna do, and that is exactly what Aaron Comte figured out in kind of a circuitous way.

So, Aaron, welcome.

Springdale Executive Director, Administrator, what is your title?

- My title is General Manager.

- General Manager.

- Springdale Cemetery.

- Okay.

All right.

Sorry I goofed that up.

Anyway, so you were not born here.

You're born in the South.

So where in the South?

- I was born in Arkansas, actually.

- Okay.

- Yeah.

My parents moved there after they were married.

They met in Peoria.

My mom's from here.

So my first couple years were in Arkansas, and then we moved to Southern Illinois, and then gradually came back up to Peoria when I was about, I think, eight years old.

- Okay.

And grandparents were still here, so you got to?

- Well, my grandparents were unfortunately deceased at the time.

- Okay.

- So, yeah, I didn't get to know my grandparents very well.

- [Christine] You missed out on that part?

- Yeah, but generations of my family are from here, so.

- [Christine] Awesome, awesome.

So still a lot of relatives?

- Yes.

- A lot of fingers all kind of stretching out throughout this area.

- Exactly.

- Good for you.

All right, so then tell me, young Aaron, eight years old, grew up here, then.

Where'd you go to high school?

- Peoria Christian School.

- All right.

And from there you went to?

- I did some time at ICC.

I was studying French.

- You did some time?

- Did some time.

- [Christine] That's pretty funny, okay.

I think, yeah.

- I did some time.

- I get it.

- Studying French and business.

I didn't finish a degree.

I was pretty uncertain about what I wanted to do.

I moved to Chicago, and spent a good part of my 20s there, working various jobs that were, you know, all very interesting, but weren't leading to a career.

And when I moved back to Peoria, I found myself pursuing a career in funeral services.

It all kind of stemmed from a chance encounter with someone at an event.

I found out he was a funeral director.

He was about my age.

We got to talking, and by the end of it, he said, "Have you ever considered working at a funeral home?"

And of course the thought had crossed my mind.

My family comes from generations of funeral service in Peoria.

But the timing was right.

I think I was at a point where I was ready to look at that.

So I put on my wingtips, bought a black suit, and I guess the rest is history.

- That's really crazy.

So your family was involved in funeral services for a while?

- Yeah, my mom- - And it's something that you hadn't ever considered?

- Well, I'd considered it, but never seriously.

It was more kind of like a what if?

- Okay.

- You know?

I'd seen the show "Six Feet Under."

I think that's a popular show.

- Right.

- And I kind of imagined myself in that role, and it wasn't unfathomable.

It just wasn't something that anyone had ever put me on the spot and said, "Why don't you come work, and see if you like it, see if that's your fit?"

- [Christine] Right.

- And it turns out it was.

- So, and it just was one of those chance encounters?

- [Aaron] Mm-hmm.

- So how did that conversation start out?

It's just like, "What do you do?"

And "What do you do?"

- Well, yeah, sort of.

I mean, he looked familiar to me, so I introduced myself, and he said, "Well, I'm a funeral director, and I work at this funeral home in town, and maybe you know it."

And I said, "Well, I do."

(both chuckle) Actually, so.

You know, and I've always, like I said, I've always been curious about it.

I've known that's what my family's business was, and I've never been someone to shy away from talking about grief or loss, and I don't know if that's ingrained in me just from my familial background.

- [Christine] Right, right.

- Or if that's just something unique in my nature, and it's just the combination of the two, but something about it, it just feels like, you know, it felt like that was exactly where I needed to be at that time.

- All right.

So then you worked, you did time, how's that?

You did time at a funeral home- - Yes.

- In some funeral services.

For how long?

- I did that for, I think, about five years before I was like, I was continuing, I resumed my business studies.

And by that time, I was like, "This is what I'm doing.

This is what I'm doing in my life."

So I decided to switch courses again and enroll in mortuary school.

- [Christine] All right, and where was that?

- It's actually Worsham College in Chicago.

- Okay.

- So I was able to take, you know, this was post-pandemic, so I was able to take a good part of my classes online, and then drive up to the city periodically to take in-class classes.

- Okay, instructions.

- Mm-hmm.

- Okay.

Well then the Springdale job came up, so you applied for it, and how did that all work out?

- Well, I got a phone call one day from the deputy coroner, and he said, "I hear a whispering that they're looking for a new director at Springdale.

They want someone young with funeral experience who has a lot of passion for Peoria," and he said, "You're the first person that popped into my mind.

You're there all the time, you're always posting pictures on social media, and I know you've done the history," I'd done the history tours a few times.

So I thought, yeah right.

Like, there's no way that I would get chosen for that role.

And the more I thought about it, it just became my obsession.

I thought, this is it.

This is my destiny.

This feels like this would take all of my gifts and talents and my passion, and put it towards something very meaningful to the community, and something very pure, which is Springdale.

Springdale is, to me, represents something very pure that needs to be protected, and there's so much beauty there, and they've done a fantastic job, the previous- - General manager?

- Manager, Mark Matuszak.

And the Springdale Management Board, they've done a fantastic job, if you rewind 25 years ago, Springdale was in desperate need of help.

- [Christine] Right.

- So we've come a long way.

The cemetery's stabilized, and they've found ways to find funding to continue beautifying, and it's a beautiful place.

It doesn't need a lot of help.

- Right.

- But when I go through there, I'm seeing all the ways I can help improve it, and really make it shine brighter than it ever has.

- So it is, how many acres?

It's huge.

- 254 acres.

- Right.

And then there's six miles of road in there?

- [Aaron] Over six miles in roads, yes.

- Crazy.

- Yes.

- And, well, I don't want to go there in the dark because I would have to spend the night, because it's confusing to me.

I've been there during the day, and trying to find Soldier Hill, and all that.

It really is quite interesting, yes, but beautiful.

You also have some prairie land grasses that, tell me about that project, because that was established in the 1800s.

- Right.

So I guess a little brief background, 1840s Peoria, you had lots of small cemeteries kind of scattered throughout the downtown area where everyone lived.

They were small.

Some of them were even more, I would say, informal.

It would just be like the graveyard.

- [Christine] Right.

- Or the city cemetery.

- Or with the church.

- Or with the church.

- Right.

- Exactly.

So you know, you had all these small, a small network of cemeteries, but as the city, I think, doubled in size in just about a decade.

You know, this is the peak of the industrial revolution.

I think we as a community started to realize we're running out of space in these small graveyards.

We can't just keep, you know, improvising.

- Because we have sprawl.

- We need a plan.

Right.

- I guess urban sprawl is what we call it now, but- - Exactly.

And when you're confined there just below the bluff, and just right above the bluff, it's kind of like, there's not a lot of, you know- - People have to quit dying.

- Spaces, right.

- [Christine] Yeah exactly.

- So, the city planners came up with the idea to charter a cemetery about two miles out of town, where we presently reside.

That was originally called Birket's Hollow.

And a portion of that is actually Glen Oak Park.

But Springdale was there long before Glen Oak Park.

At the time, we didn't have trains, so you would have to take- - A horse and buggy?

- Horse and buggy.

- Or a horse, or yeah.

- The procession would lead you all the way out of town, and you're watching the cityscape begin to fade away, and it was completely untouched, you know?

It was a virgin landscape.

It had all of the native plant species of the Peoria area in the Midwest, and one area that has been completely preserved with the exception of one monument in the middle is the Springdale Savanna.

- Okay, yeah.

- So that tall grass dates back to 10,000 years ago.

And it's the largest and I guess oldest native prairie land in the state of Illinois.

- Is that right?

- Yes.

- And there's 14 acres?

- Yes, there's 14 acres.

Mm-hmm.

- And you like history, you've told us that already, and you've demonstrated it.

And no one has tried to encroach upon that in order to use it as burial sites?

- No, I think if you look early on, I think in one of the older, well maybe the first history book on Peoria, there was a mention of the Springdale, the Savannah in the Springdale, and how it was the intent to leave that as it was, 'cause that's a remnant of what this whole area used to look like before it was converted into farmland.

- Right.

Wow, wow.

And that was pretty far out of town when it was two miles away back in the 1800s.

- Yes, it was.

- It was a commitment to get there.

- Well, and you know, it was part of this suburban rural cemetery movement to establish, you know, for a larger city to establish a rural environment for their cemetery, and it was, you know, again, this precedes the park district.

This was a place where people could go out of town, even if they weren't going there for a burial.

They could make the journey.

Maybe it's a Sunday picnic.

To walk along the creeks and the paths and the trails and the bridges, and take in the natural beauty of the area, and to you know, to stare in awe at these massive monuments and beautiful works of funerary art.

I mean, that was an outdoor museum for them.

- It really was.

So you said, as we spoke about you coming onto the program, that there's all kinds of things going on there.

And I know that you have the veterans special, the unidentified unmarked veterans project?

Tell me about that.

For starters.

- Well, the Captain Roy B. Tisdell Campaign for Unmarked Veterans.

So I should probably tell you who Roy B. Tisdell is.

- [Christine] Mm-hmm.

- Roy B. Tisdell was an African American soldier in World War One.

He fought in France as part of the Black Devils Regiment, and they were known for their tenacity and their bravery in combat.

Tisdell was wounded.

He was awarded a Purple Heart, and the Croix de Guerre, which is the French- - [Christine] Purple Heart?

- French Purple Heart, it's like the highest honor you can get.

And you know, a host of other medals.

He was a well-decorated military veteran.

And he returned home, and died unfortunately at a pretty young age, at 35 years old.

He left no family.

But the African American community really respected his service, and they named their legion hall after him.

- Okay.

- The Captain Roy B. Tisdell Legion Hall.

- Mm-hmm.

- And you know, like many legion halls, they had, they were part of civic events and parades, and they had a marching band, and they had this drum that has his name printed on it.

Well, earlier this spring, a gentleman contacted me.

I had no idea who Tisdell was.

He contacted me, and he said, "I found a grave that needs some maintenance."

He mentioned the name, and I looked it up, and I went out there and looked at it myself, and it was a veteran's tablet.

You know, they're pretty tall, usually about three or four feet.

- Mm-hmm.

The white one?

- The white marble tablets.

- The arched one, right.

Uh-huh.

- And this was sunken down to about a foot of it sticking out of the ground.

- Okay.

- Maybe a foot.

- Mm-hmm.

- So clearly I recognized that this needed some attention.

And as we got to talking, I realized that he's not related to Tisdell.

You know, normally families are responsible for maintaining their- - [Christine] Or letting you know if something needs to be done.

- Exactly.

For bringing it to our attention.

- Right.

- So I said, "Well, what connection do you have here?"

And he said he had come across this bass drum from the old Tisdell Legion Hall Marching Band.

- [Christine] Okay.

- He had seen a post on Facebook.

It was kind of left in an alley somewhere for the garbage, and he- - He rescued it.

- He's a drummer, and he's a history enthusiast, and he rescued it, and he's like, "Captain Roy B. Tisdell.

Who's that?

What's the story behind this?"

And he went down a rabbit hole of just some really fascinating stories that I don't have time to get into.

- Well, you're gonna have to give me his name, 'cause I have to have him on the show later.

But let's hear the rest of this story.

(laughing) - Well, the drum was in dire need of restoration.

- Mm-hmm.

- The calfskin, the, I'm trying to think of, you know, the face of the drum- - Right, yeah.

- Had been split.

It was split open.

- Okay, needed repair.

- The hardware was all original and intact.

So he did some research, trying to find out who could restore an artifact like this.

- [Christine] Right.

- He found this popular YouTuber, who's got, I think, close to two million followers on YouTube.

The guy normally specializes in restoring old paintings that have been ripped or damaged.

- Okay, sure.

- So he contacted- - [Christine] So that kind of canvas or whatever it is- - Exactly.

- Okay.

- Yeah, that type of material.

- Mm-hmm.

- So he asked him, and the guy said, "Absolutely not."

Then he kept, then he started to share the story behind Tisdell and the Legion, and all this.

Then the guy said, "Well, okay.

I'll do it this once."

- Okay.

- So he restored the drum, and this was around the same time I had just met the gentlemen.

So actually, if you go to our website, we have an article on Tisdell.

You can read more about him.

- Okay.

- And you can watch these restoration videos.

They've gotten almost a half a million views.

- All right.

- And the comments have been just overwhelmingly, people are moved by this story.

- Okay.

Well real quickly.

- Yes.

- So on your Facebook page, or is it on your website?

- [Aaron] On our website.

- Okay, so give us the website, really quickly, so that we don't- - Yes.

- Forget that.

- That's www.SpringdaleCemetery, C-E-M-E- - [Both] T-E-R-Y.

- [Christine] Right.

- .com.

- Okay, all right, good.

Okay, so continue the story.

So this man managed to restore it, and the story of Tisdell.

- Yes, so through all of this, we had lots of conversations, and at the same time, our resident Springdale researcher, who's a volunteer, he brought to my attention a list of 50 veterans that are buried in Springdale that have no headstone marker of any kind.

Now, the VA provides a free bronze plaque, so it's just a matter of filling out paperwork, and applying for the monument to be shipped to us.

But then there comes the issue of you can't just put a bronze plaque on the ground.

We need to purchase a granite stone backer, and attach the bronze to it.

- Right.

- So I said, well what do I do with this?

- [Christine] What am I gonna, yeah.

Thank you for this challenge.

- As I was talking with Eric Smith, the gentleman who found the drum, it just sort of seemed like, well, here's this issue, and here's this issue.

Tisdell represents someone who's, you know, thankfully, our Soldier Hill area is maintained by local vets.

- By a lot of volunteers.

You have quite a corps of volunteers.

- But there are veterans all throughout the cemetery.

So what do you do about them when there's no family left to protect their legacy?

- Mm-hmm.

- All Tisdell had left was his headstone, and then this drum.

These are artifacts that speak to his legacy.

- Mm-hmm.

- Well, naturally we just decided, hey, let's put these things together.

This falls under the same umbrella of continued maintenance, and honoring the service of these veterans.

So we named it the Roy B. Tisdell Unmarked Veterans Campaign.

- What an honor.

- And this Memorial Day, I revived this drive-through tour that we had done during the pandemic.

We did a little refreshing.

I printed out yard signs that have these, I chose a section where there was a handful.

They're kind of in a cluster.

- Right.

- And we printed out signs to place on their graves.

And another sign by the road that explains the campaign and has a QR code for people, so they can contribute to the cause.

- Wow.

- So at least- - What an honor.

- They don't have a permanent marker at the moment, that we at least have a temporary marker for some.

And as we raise the money to move forward with this, we'll just keep going down our list.

- Right.

How much do you need to raise?

What is your goal?

- The goal is set at 20,000.

That figure is $500 per granite marker.

And for about 50 people, so you know, he still continues to find more people, too.

- [Christine] Right.

- So we've set that $20,000 mark.

And anything that runs over that, we'll figure out a proper use for it that will continue to care for these veterans outside of the designated veteran area.

- Yeah.

And that's another one of those, I call it a Holy Spirit thing.

It just sort of happens.

Things sort of fall into place.

- Yeah, I didn't ask for this.

It just kind of- - It just came to you.

- It came together naturally, and it seemed like a no-brainer.

This is the right thing to do, you know?

Again, talking about the old cemeteries, and the way people used to treat cemeteries, it wasn't always right, but from our perspective now.

You know, after a certain time, they moved on, and they said, "Oh, it's been 50 years.

Let's put a library on that cemetery."

- [Christine] Right.

- So it's kind of like looking back on history, and realizing that they did some things right and some things wrong, so it's correcting the wrongs from the past and making sure that everyone's life has meaning, and that's the whole point of working in the funeral service, is giving people that dignity.

- Exactly.

Wow.

So, what else is going on?

What else are you doing to keep you busy in Springdale?

- Well, I've been busy.

I've just been there about a year now.

We've seen a good portion of the worst roads in the cemetery resurfaced.

I've seen the completion of our first phase in mausoleum restoration.

The Springdale Mausoleum turns 100 in 2029.

- [Christine] Okay.

- So I'm embarking on an effort to not just fix roofing, and things like that, that are part of the general maintenance of the building, but restoring the stained glass windows in the original mausoleum, and improving the landscaping, and really just, I have a couple years to get this- - Make it beautiful.

- Mausoleum in shape for its 100th birthday.

- Yes.

And you found the people who can do this?

You have local artisans that can do all this?

- Well, it's specialized work.

When we're talking about, particularly with the copper roofing, so.

Yeah, there was a company from St.

Louis that is- - You have to take bids?

- Yeah, exactly.

- Okay.

- So the whole process is, I've never done something like this before, so it's talking to a lot of people, and getting a lot of answers to my questions to feel it out, and find the path forward, so we're moving forward towards that goal.

On top of that, we've brought back some of the programming that maybe fell off after the COVID pandemic.

- Right.

- In a couple weeks, we're bringing back the history tours.

- Right.

- That's the first two weekends in- - And you said you- - October.

- You did some of those?

You did the- - I did that two years.

- Okay.

- Mm-hmm.

I portrayed Springdale, notable Springdale residents.

- Okay.

And then October, will there be more?

You know, there's always some kind of Halloween event there, and reenactments, and- - That is the, the history tour is the reenactment.

- [Christine] Okay, all right.

- The Historical Society does their own bus tours.

I think it's the Haunted Peoria Bus Tour.

So they pass through Springdale.

We have a couple of non-for-profit events there as well, including the Screaming Pumpkin Race.

We have, you know, we just wrapped up the season for our sunset yoga through Soulside Healing Arts Yoga.

- Yes.

- Don't worry, there's plenty of space that isn't graves.

- You're not on top of a grave.

- Right, no.

- Right, uh-huh.

- But you know, it's been really great to get involved with them again, and bring people back to Springdale to enjoy the nature, and to really interact with it in a meaningful and spiritual way.

- [Christine] Yeah.

- But we're talking about maybe doing an event closer to All Souls Day, like we did last year.

- Okay.

That's lovely.

- Mm-hmm.

- That is lovely.

So all in all, you're satisfied with this turn in your life that brought you to Springdale, and this is your future?

'Cause you're young- - You said it well.

- [Christine] And able to do it, okay.

- Yeah, I have a lot of vision for Springdale.

Some of that, I inherited from Mark Matuszak.

He was a man of great vision, and he certainly left his mark there.

You know, he did a fantastic job elevating Springdale's image of grandeur.

Well, so that sets the bar high for me, you know.

And I have, I think, plenty of time to continue pursuing my goals, and Lord knows the list runs on and on and on.

It'll take me years to get through all of my plans there.

- Well good for you.

Good for you.

Well it sounds like Springdale is in good hands, and people should visit it just for the beauty.

The opening gate is beautiful again, and to watch the progress on the mausoleum, and also of the unmarked graves.

- Yes.

And we're hitting peak fall soon, so the leaves will be changing, and I highly recommend if you've not been to Springdale, or if you haven't been in a while, you wanna be paying attention the next couple weeks, because we have so many trees, and it's all about to start turning into a beautiful- - This is the time.

- Spectacular show.

- [Christine] Well thank you so much, Aaron.

You're wonderful.

- Thank you.

- And keep up the good work.

- Thank you.

It's great to meet you.

- Nice to meet you too, and to talk to you.

And he's got some ideas for me for future shows, so I hope you enjoyed hearing his story, and the story of Springdale, and until next time, be well.

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