Maple Grove Cemetery president to step down

The president of Maple Grove Cemetery is preparing to pass the baton to a yet-to-be-named successor. Photo courtesy of Maple Grove

By Rachel Vick

After over a decade of working at the 65-acre Maple Grove Cemetery in Kew Gardens, Bonnie Thompson Dixon is stepping down as president.

Dixon has worked the full spectrum of life in New York, from her role in establishing the Children’s Museum on Long Island, to working in senior living, to her role helping ease the transition of losing loved ones.

“Whatever job I've gotten, I try to figure out what needs to be done on time and under budget, and make sure the people we encounter along the way are participants in the process,” she said. “I prefer helping people in transition. I feel good that that’s what I do; my jobs haven't been about me, they've been about building and sustaining an institution that serves a community.”

Throughout the past year, Dixon has helped the cemetery navigate their own transition as COVID-19 tore through Queens — for both their staff and the community members working through difficult decisions during unprecedented times.

Dixon said that some clients were facing the prospect of planning burials from their own hospital rooms and many others have had to sacrifice burial traditions — a change with a yet to be seen impact on funerals. Though the past year was not the first pandemic the 146-year-old facilities have persevered through, her staff was left to tackle an impossible workload.

“They were trying their best [but] we were no longer able to hold hands and explain,” she said. “We’ve invited the community in — I think it's a very important connection that people can make if they choose.”

“When we started… we were a suburb of New York City,” Dixon added. “It's gone from that to the point we know today with 32 different languages spoken, so it's changed, and the people we serve have changed but the sentiment of wanting to memorialize our precious family members is still the same.”

Dixon said that preserving the history of the cemetery and its relationship with the community are integral parts of the cemetery’s longevity. Her favorite section of the sprawling property is the historic section, where the graves are placed on hills.

Even among the dead, Dixon said that members of the community flocked to the space to enjoy life.

“During COVID we had a lot of people who would use this as their walking space and I think it really gave people an outlet so they could get out… and see light, the future and hope,” Dixon said. “I think this can be a very hopeful place [and] give a little perspective that life is not just your apartment; there’s a future.”

The cemetery is currently searching for someone to replace Dixon. In addition to leading the team of caretakers and associates, the new president will have the opportunity to make their mark on the historic cemetery by deciding on new developments on the property.

Dixon will stay on until her replacement is hired because, she says, continuity of care for mourners and the cemetery is nonnegotiable.

“The most important thing to me is perspective on life, we just pass through this lifetime and it isn't always about building a building or doing some remarkable task,” Dixon said. “This cemetery has been here because [people] care, they care about remembering those who have come before us, the value of those people. We pass through life and out and if we can help people along the way and be kind when they need that support, that’s a huge achievement in and of itself.”