A tall granite obelisk was recently installed in a quiet corner of the Tamaqua Odd Fellows Cemetery.

It will be engraved with the names of those who have passed on, and whose cremains will be interred in a soon-to-arrive ossuary.

“We are going to make this a beautiful garden area,” explained Pastor Sharon Stokes, a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows Harmony and Lady Harmony Lodge.

The ossuary, which will be a granite box, is a new — and affordable — burial option at the cemetery.

She explained that the ossuary will hold 100 cremains, and each side of the 4-sided obelisk will be engraved with the 25 names of the deceased. It will have the years of births and passings.

“If you were in the military, you will get a star engraved next to your name,” Stokes said.

It will cost $500 for the interment and engraving.

“You don’t have to worry about maintaining a grave or putting flowers on a grave,” Stokes said, since the area will be maintained and planted with flowers. “You eliminate so many costs.”

Flowers will be added, and as time goes on, benches will be placed there.

“That way people will have a place where they can sit,” Stokes said.

To date, two have pre-purchased space in the ossuary.

“You can pre-purchase for yourself, a loved one — or even somebody who has already passed,” she said. “The idea is that as it grows, we will have another obelisk and another ossuary.”

The 1861 Victorian garden cemetery spans 38 acres.

For more information, call 570-668-2070.