William Yale, USN (Ret) - Sampson Veterans Memorial Cemetery

Posted by Tom Breen

on Oct 03, 2012

Our club was honored today to welcome Honeoye Falls native, and 22-year Navy veteran, Bill Yale. Mr. Yale is the director of the Sampson Veterans Memorial Cemetery. From 1977 to 1999, Bill was a parachute rigger for the Navy. When he retired from the Navy, he found jobs for parachute riggers were scarce. He attended the Simmons Institute of Funeral Service in Syracuse, and became a licensed funeral director. He wanted to be involved with veterans, so save as he trained with the National Cemetery Association and worked at Bay Pines National Cemetery in St. Petersburg, Florida. He and his family missed New York, so they moved to Genoa, New York. This was about the same time that the Sampson cemetery was getting started.

Established in 2011, the Sampson Memorial Cemetery covers 162 acres of the former Sampson Naval Training Station, later Sampson Air Force Base and Seneca Army Depot. In 2000, approximately 2,000 acres was set aside to become Sampson State Park. Shortly after the park’s opening, efforts were under way to establish the memorial cemetery on acreage just south of the park. $3.3 million in state funds were later allocated to establish and construct the cemetery.

The cemetery was constructed to meet National Cemetery Administration guidelines and operates under their rules, but it is not a national cemetery. The Seneca county Economic Development Corporation pays the bills to keep it going. The goal for the cemetery is to become a national cemetery or a VA funded state cemetery. Any veteran discharged from active duty under other than dishonorable conditions is eligible to be buried there. Also entitled to burial there are the veterans legal spouse and eligible dependent children.

In its first year of operation the cemetery has performed 98 burials, including a Silver Star recipient. Mr. Yale tells us of the 162 acres, 13 have been developed, providing more than 6000 sites. That includes a memorial section, which is an area for markers only, for cases where there are no remains to be interred. Some statistics: veterans from WWII, Korea, and Vietnam are equally represented there.

While state funding was secured to initially establish the Cemetery, private funding must be raised to ensure proper maintenance and operations. For more information, if or to make a donation, visit www.sampsonveteranscemetery.com.

Gene Bassage introduces William Yale, Director of the Sampson Veterans Memorial Cemetery