Oak Cliff Cemetery Association Fund

The Board of the Oak Cliff Cemetery Association transferred their endowment to the Foundation for investment management to care for, and grow, its funds.

The Oak Cliff Cemetery Association oversees three properties of historic significance to the Valley, including the Elm Street Cemetery in Ansonia and the Olde Uptown Burying Ground in Derby, one of the earliest town cemeteries in the country. The Oak Cliff Cemetery was established when the Borough of Birmingham section of Derby was laid out around 1835 and came into general use around 1846. The Olde Uptown Burying Ground was set aside by the Town of Derby as a town cemetery shortly after Derby became a separate town in 1675. The Elm Street Cemetery surrounded the first Anglican Episcopal Church in Derby, which was founded in 1737. Edward Wooster, the first permanent settler in Derby, and several members of the Wooster family are buried in the Olde Uptown Burying Ground.

Their stories, as well as those of so many other founding families of Derby will be preserved and shared with future generations through the maintenance of these historic sites. The Association's Board of directors wanted to have a strong local partner to help them ensure the cemeteries are taken care of now and forever, and transferred their endowment to the Valley Community Foundation.

"The Oak Cliff Cemetery Association has a tremendous responsibility to carefully oversee the funds from families of departed relatives buried in our cemeteries in order to provide perpetual care and upkeep of our buildings and grounds," said Association director Merritt Clark.