Last November I penned a lament about the conditions of the sections of the Chapala cemetery where the remains of many deceased foreigners have been laid to rest.

The piece reflected on how most of those people are largely forgotten in the whirlwind of festivity that goes on elsewhere in the Panteón Municipal during the annual Day of the Dead celebrations.

A few months after the editorial titled “Los Olvidados” was published, I was sought out by a lakeside group of genealogy enthusiasts. They were quite keen to get involved in researching the six-foot-under expat population and compiling personal data and photos of tombstones to upload on the findagrave.com website.

Together with American Legion Post 7 Commander Randall Butler and ANAVETS service officer Mark Horodecky, we have since embarked on a heart-warming journey to dignify the cemetery’s two foreign sections.

The first area, located on the lower level at the northeast corner of the grounds, was established by the Chapala Society in 1955 as one of its first community initiatives, under what I recently learned was a verbal agreement with municipal authorities. The first burial that year pertained to Cora Beck Couch who died on November 14.

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