Cemetery & Columbarium
Introduction
Holy Mother of the Rosary Cemetery dates back to 1896. Situated on Dale Road in Cheektowaga, the cemetery continues to be the final resting place of many of our parishioners and community members.
There is also a columbarium on the site of the cathedral campus on Broadway, available to house the cremated remains on loved ones.
Our Cemetery and Property Committee sees to the care of both locations. Our parish office, with the assistance of the Cheektowaga Town Historian, maintains cemetery and columbarium records to preserve the memory of our beloved family and friends.
Contact the parish office for more information or if you are interested in purchasing a cemetery plot or a columbarium single or double niche.
Cemetery History
The Holy Mother of the Rosary Cathedral was originally located down the street from St. Adalbert’s Basilica, but in death the two parishes are even closer together. On Dale Road in the town of Cheektowaga, the Holy Mother of the Rosary Cemetery is flanked on both sides by the Basilica’s cemetery. The third oldest Polish cemetery in the region, the Holy Mother of the Rosary Cemetery was purchased in September of 1896 from the Ney Family.
The cemetery became the hub of the independent Polish parishes in the region, after they all affiliated with the Polish National Catholic Church based in Scranton, PA. The Holy Mother of the Rosary Cemetery was home for the deceased parishioners of All Saints Church in Black Rock, Holy Trinity in Lackawanna, and St. Joseph’s in Depew.
In addition to many of the pioneers of Buffalo’s Polish National Catholic Church, the cemetery is the final resting place of Bishop Stefan Kaminski, and the Buffalo-Pittsburgh Diocese’s Bishop Jan Jasinski. The cemetery also has the distinction of holding one of the prime bishops of the Polish National Catholic Church, Tadusz Zielinski. Zielinski, a well-respected figure in Buffalo’s Polonia, was elected bishop of the Buffalo-Pittsburgh Diocese in 1953. He would serve in this role for 16 years, during which time he was elected as successor to Prime Bishop Leon Grochowski and became the third prime bishop of the Polish National Catholic Church.
Bishop Thaddeus Peplowski is buried on the cathedral campus before the Piéta statue, across from the columbarium. He passed away in 2018, after many decades of serving the Buffalo-Pittsburgh Diocese. He opened many new parishes, and oversaw the relocation of Holy Mother of the Rosary Cathedral to its current location on Broadway.