I am a local girl, proud to be living in the same town that for several generations my father's family has lived in and around. I thought it would be easy to find them here in the local Cloverdale cemetery… not so. Yes, there were people with the right last name, but most I had never heard of. Who were they? Those I looked for, I couldn't find, and so began my search. With many markers and stones deteriorating with age, or being broken and/or misplaced by the inconsiderate or just a falling tree, I realized that I may never have my answers. I didn't want to lose a single one of them… and so I have begun my search. I am slowly finding them… scattered throughout the Alexander Valley and Hopland area. There are some in resting places I didn't dream existed, frequently passed by on my way somewhere. Now as I pass, it is comforting to acknowledge their daily lives in this place, with struggles I no longer have because I live when I do. I salute them.

I realize others are looking as well… perhaps for the same person, or someone that lies close by. It is because of another searcher contributing to this site I found Hall Cemetery (Thank you, thank you!), and I intend to do what I can to preserve my and other's important links to the past with photos and "care-full" monument restoration as I keep searching.