About Us
The historic Piney Grove Cemetery is located at 372 Bee Tree Road in the Swannanoa Community. The cemetery surrounds what was Swannanoa Presbyterian Church and now the home to One Focus Church. The cemetery is considered by most to be the oldest cemetery in Western North Carolina.
With the closure of the Swannanoa Presbyterian Church in 2014, the Western North Carolina Presbytery separated the cemetery land from that of the church with the intention of creating a non-profit oversite organization. Soon after, the non-profit was Chartered, and a Board of Directors took over the responsibility of preserving and maintaining the cemetery grounds.
The organization’s primary purposes are the general maintenance of the grounds and the administration of donations from family members and friends of those buried in the cemetery. Maintenance primarily consists of seasonal mowing, weed eating, removal of leaves and fallen limbs, and general ground clearing around the cemetery’s outer boundary. The Board has recently taken on the daunting task of categorizing all gravesites using software from a cemetery specialist company called CemSites.
The Board currently consists of five Directors who meet on a quarterly basis. The organization is always in the search of new Directors to serve on the Board. Directors do not need to be connected to the cemetery by blood. Directors interests in serving vary from family, to history, to community service and more.
Please consider offering your time and services to the Board of Directors!
Current Board Directors
Bill Alexander | Board Director |
Dick Brown | Secretary, Board Director |
Glenn Cox | Chair, Board Director |
Bob McMurray | Treasurer, Board Director |
George Williams | Board Director |
Associate Members
Becky Durham | Active, Board Eligible |
Robin Hyatt | Active, Board Eligible |
Former Board Directors
David Alexander | Past Chair |
Steve Bucy | Past Board Director |
Bill Cox | Past Board Director |
Steve Hansel | Past Treasurer |
Brenda Hughes | Past Secretary |
Betsy Kirschner | Past Chair |
Rebecca Schuman | Past Treasurer |