San Diego County Board of Supervisor Joel Anderson has appointed Ramona resident Mel Cary to a vacant third seat on the Ramona Cemetery District board.
The appointment was announced at the May 19 cemetery board meeting.
Cary has lived in Ramona since 1985, while his wife, Lisa, has lived in town for nearly 70 years.
Both have family and friends buried in Nuevo Memory Gardens, the cemetery overseen by the cemetery board.
Cary said that having a local cemetery is important, and something he’s personally interested in. He’s volunteered to take care of several issues on the grounds, such as designing, building and installing a sign on the entrance wall to the grounds.
He’s also spent weeks walking the cemetery grounds, recording the location of every plot and lot.
District Manager Patty Estrada, who was hired last September, said she is excited about the possibilities for the cemetery now that a third trustee is in place.
“There are so many incredible things happening at the cemetery, and we will now be able to move forward with future decisions in confidence with a full board seated,” Estrada said.
She also praised Cary’s volunteer work.
“Mel has saved the facility countless hours of work with his recording efforts, as well as the time it previously took to find the information,” she said. “It’s been a huge help.”
The position became vacant last December, when Casey Lynch, who was appointed to the spot in December 2024, became a member of the Ramona Municipal Water District board. The water district, also a special district, requires members to serve on one board only.
The remaining two trustees — Pete Smith and Joe Stupar — were appointed by the supervisors in January last year.
The two men have had areas of disagreement which have remained unresolved without a tie-breaking third vote.
Cary was among several residents who applied for the vacant board seat. Others were Juliana Stewart, Debra Foster, Vince Ciampoli and Helene Armand.
Anderson had delayed filling the spot, saying he was waiting for answers from an ad hoc committee formed by the water district to study whether the cemetery district should become part of the Ramona Municipal Water District.
Cemetery districts in California generally operate as independent single-function districts, according to San Diego LAFCO and the California Special Districts Association. There are presently no cemetery districts in San Diego County that are part of another special district.
Ramona cemetery board meetings are public and are held the second Tuesday of every month at the Ramona Heritage Museum (formerly the Guy B. Woodward Museum), 645 Main St., or visit: https://www.ramonacemeterydistrict.com/meetings.