About Us

Origins of the Toledo State Hospital Cemetery Reclamation Project

Founding member, Larry Wanucha, attended an Ohio Advocates for Mental Health (OAMH) conference in Columbus in the fall of 2005. Larry Fricks, a consumer advocate from Georgia, began the seminar on medicaid reimbursement of peer support activities by talking about The Georgia State Hospital Cemetery Restoration Project. That project successfully restored six neglected cemeteries on state hospital grounds where up to 30,000 of our brothers and sisters were interred making it, perhaps, the largest graveyard for persons with disability in the world. Wondering whether Toledo had any state hospital cemeteries, Mr. Wanucha, together with a small group of consumers and volunteers began asking questions of local residents, employees of area agencies, and staff of University of Toledo (UT) Medical Science campus. Two cemeteries were identified on former state hospital grounds now owned by UT. Soon tours of the cemeteries were being organized, and people committed to correcting the injustice of years of neglect in the state hospital cemeteries were gathering.

The Toledo State Hospital Cemetery Restoration Project Committee (TSHCRC) now operates under the NAMI of Greater Toledo umbrella, meeting every 2nd Thursday of the month at Northwest Ohio Psychiatric Hospital (NOPH - the newest name for Toledo State Hospital).

Vision

To advocate for Toledo State Hospital cemeteries, assuring that all interred there are treated with honor, dignity & respect.

Mission

To provide long-term stewardship for the Toledo State Hospital cemeteries and to work with the University of Toledo to restore honor and dignity to those buried there.

Objectives

To promote community awareness of the cemeteries;

To reduce the stigma surrounding mental health issues through community education;

To build and maintain a strong relationship with the University of Toledo, which owns the land on which the cemeteries are located;

To serve as advocates and give a voice to descendents of those interred.

Committee Members

Larry Wanucha

Jane Weber

Henry Hartford

Clara Hartford

Paul Fletcher

Aretta Adams

Joe A.

Elizabeth Stone

Carol Nagy

Susan Conda

Mike Young

Gary Wirzylo

Susan Michael

Frank Butwin

For general information about the cemetery project, contact Larry Wanucha at lwanucha@neighborhoodproperties.org

For comments on what you see or would like to see on the website, or for offers of time or donations contact tshcrp@buckeye-express.com

For those seeking information about relatives once hospitalized at Toledo State Hospital, contact tshcrp@buckeye-express.com. We will confirm your relative is named in the Burial Log and pass on your details to Northwest Ohio Psychiatric Hospital, which is the current name of the state-operated hospital in Toledo who can provide you with limited information about their stay at the hospital. You must be able to show your relationship to the person before information can be released.

Directions to Old Cemetery

TSHCRC is a grass roots organization that welcomes donations to support of our efforts to restore the State Hospital cemeteries. Tax deductible donations can be made to NAMI of Greater Toledo. For more details see our Donating page.