During the summer of 2020, local community members volunteered to serve on a newly formed board to manage the perpetual care and maintenance of the local ZCBJ Cemetery. At that time, research into the ZCBJ Cemetery was conducted and there no longer being a ZCBJ Lodge in Wagner, the closest lodge in Utica, SD did not want to be responsible for a cemetery in Wagner. This gave the community board the opportunity to reorganize as the Wagner Cemetery Association and to transfer the care of the ZCBJ Cemetery to the Wagner Cemetery Association. Since that reorganization of the Wagner Cemetery Association, work has been ongoing to transfer ownership of the property from ZCBJ to Wagner Cemetery. As of the cemetery board meeting on May 6, 2025, we are happy to officially announce that the cemetery is now “Wagner Cemetery”. The Wagner Cemetery is the portion from the old original cemetery in the middle to the southern edge. On the north end, St John the Baptist Catholic Church maintains their own cemetery as a separate entity.

The mission statement of the Wagner Cemetery is to keep the cemetery as a nice, respectful place to honor our loved ones. The association board is truly grateful for the many volunteers that help during spring and fall clean ups to keep this property looking attractive and welcoming to families and visitors. We are thankful for the various families that have given monetary donations in the past five years. Maintenance and regular summer care can be costly for a cemetery of this size. Donations are always welcome and appreciated. We continue to welcome positive input to help us direct the future improvement of the cemetery. Any ideas are welcomed and can be shared with any member of the board. The current board consists of the following members and officers. Chad Peters -President, Linda Youngbluth -Vice President, Patty Frei-Secretary/Treasurer, Dave Robertson, Todd Johannsen, and Melissa Zacharias.

As we approach the upcoming Memorial Day holiday, we wish to remind the community of the rules for decorations at the Wagner Cemetery. Decorations to be removed within two weeks following Memorial Day. Decorations to be removed within two weeks following a funeral. We DO ALLOW metal shepherd hooks, military, or organization affiliation stakes-we do ask that you keep the stakes in line with the monument and right next to the foundation of monument/headstone. No new planting of trees or shrubs allowed. No breakables ceramic or glass allowed and please no small stones, golf balls, etc. (these are dangerous if they are on the grave site and get picked up by the lawn mowing equipment while mowing and trimming). Items not allowed or items left after two weeks will be removed and placed in a pickup area in the maintenance corner on the southeast portion of the cemetery.

The Wagner Cemetery Association is not responsible for broken or missing items on grave sites.

The Wagner Cemetery Association is excited to share that we can now officially call the cemetery the Wagner Cemetery. Be on the lookout for new signage coming soon. To learn more about what the board has done and is working on accomplishing, mark your calendars for the Wagner Cemetery Association annual meeting on Tuesday, June 3rd at 7:00pm at Wagner Lake. And be sure to check out our Facebook page “Wagner Cemetery” for photos and updates of information. We thank the community for your continued support.