8. Rest in Peace

A routine check of the main building on Rest in Peace Cemetery in Santa Fe turned thousands of cardboard boxes containing the remains of people. An inspector from the state’s Cemetery and Bureau found the boxes stacked neatly in various of the cemetery’s main building. Instead of having of the departed, most boxes simply had dates on them. The dates went all the way to June 14, 1930.

The owner of the , Mrs. Marbles, said she had just bought the a year ago. She said she had never been in many of the rooms of the building. She said that she had bought the solely for its land value.

“As we all ,” she said, “God keeps making people, but He’s making any more land. It’s only a matter time before all this land is going to needed for the living. When that happens, this will be worth at least ten times what paid for it. I’m already in discussions with condo developers.”

The inspector said that it looked most of the remains were from the 1930s the 1970s. He figured that the people were homeless people whose bodies were never claimed at funeral homes. The funeral homes cremated the bodies then gave the remains to the cemetery for burial. He said that even though these remains up to 75 years old, they would be with dignity and respect.

“After all,” he said, “ of these people had relatives at one time. might even have children and grandchildren living right in Santa Fe.”