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Mausoleums
By Patti Martin Bartsche
Bygone
Era
In the Arms of a
Jack and Patricia Lipinski plan to be around for many
more years, but about two years ago the couple started
to have some serious conversations about the future.
“If anything happened to either of
us, we wanted to take away as many
tasks from our daughter as possible,”
Patricia Lipinski said.
Among those tasks would be selecting a final resting place for the family.
Located in Charleston, South Carolina, Magnolia Cemetery opened in
1850 as one of the country’s new
“rural Victorian” cemeteries. Located on the grounds of the former
Magnolia Umbra plantation, its 92
acres features perfectly manicured
grounds, winding paths, trees and
ponds as well as massive monuments.
“We were drawn to the cemetery
for many reasons … its history, its
beauty,” Jack Lipinski said. “It was
just the right place.”
And then there was the cemetery’s
proximity to Kiawah Island, where
the couple’s daughter, Olympic fig22
ure skating gold medalist Tara Lipinski, has a home. “Tara’s had a home
there for 12 or 13 years,” Jack Lipinski said. “She loves the area … so it
made sense.”
After walking the grounds of the
cemetery, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the
Lipinskis – who live primarily in
Houston, Texas – chose a plot nestled
among the beautiful oaks and magnolias located in the Belvidere section to
build their private family mausoleum.
The 10-crypt mausoleum, which was
completed last year, is based on a picture Pat Lipinski presented to Coldspring designer Mark Barthelemy.
“I’m not exactly sure where I found
the picture, but it was something that
I’ve held on to for a long time,” Pat
Lipinski said. “It reminded me of a little chapel … and I love little chapels.”
Working from the picture,
Barthelemy was able to create a
mausoleum that featured spires,
columns, stained-glass windows, ornate moldings and more.
It was also designed to hold 10
crypts, which was a must for the
family. “Tara didn’t want us – or her
– to be buried in the ground,” Pat
Lipinski said.
When the designs were submitted
for approval, Pat Lipinski was pleased
that the essence of the picture was
captured in the renderings. “It was
exactly what we wanted,” she said.
In early spring 2015, the board of
trustees of Magnolia Cemetery
approved the architectural/engineer
drawings and style of the building.
By the first week in May, the foundation had been poured and the first
row of granite was in place.
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The Lipinski private estate
mausoleum was inspired by
a photo of a small chapel.
Architectural details,
including stained glass
windows spires and
dimensional moldings,
provide a highly
personalized design.
(Photo credit: Jason
Stemple Photography)
Coldspring project manager Jason
Craft was involved from the start. As
the project was in the design stages,
Craft was in Charleston looking over
the site. “It was in a fairly difficult
location in the cemetery,” Craft
noted, “it took a lot of planning to
make sure we could get the equipment in place without disturbing the
surrounding area.”
American Cemetery & Cremation • March 2016
Because of the weight of the mausoleum, it was important that the
project be properly supported, Craft
said. “The finished project weighs
about 210,000 pounds, and we
wanted to make sure that it would be
stable, secure and not sink (into the
ground),” Craft said.
A local pile driving company was
enlisted to help come up with solu-
tions to overcome obstacles, including driving 16 pilings into the ground
to support the structure.
As part of the process, a 3-D
model of the mausoleum was created. Individual pieces were then cut,
with the precise cutting information
sent to Coldspring’s manufacturing
plant in Minnesota. At the plant, the
individual pieces were cut to scale
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from the Royal Sable granite the Lipinskis had selected.
The granite pieces were then bundled and shipped to
Charleston on five trucks.
Putting together the mausoleum, which numbered
more than 200 pieces, was a painstaking process, Craft
said. “We were onsite for about two-and-a-half weeks
from sunup to sundown,” he said. “Building the mausoleum was kind of like doing a paint by number. Each
piece was numbered and shown on the drawing, so as
the trucks came in, we unbundled the pieces, building
from the bottom up.”
Construction was completed in early summer.
“It’s an impressive structure,” Craft said. “It’s not a
square box … there are a lot of unique features. It really fits beautifully into its surroundings.”
Patrick Harwood, a communications professor at
the College of Charleston, agrees.
Harwood is very familiar with Magnolia, having
published two books about South Carolina’s oldest
public cemetery: “Birds of Magnolia Cemetery:
Charleston’s Secret Bird Sanctuary” and “In the Arms
of Angels: Magnolia Cemetery, Charleston’s Treasure
of History, Mystery, and Artistry.”
He calls the Lipinski mausoleum an amazing new addition to the cemetery, noting that the structure “is
truly in the style of the 19th century Victorian necropolis.”
In “In the Arms of Angels,” Harwood devotes a
chapter to families in modern times that mark the
graves of loved ones with big, beautiful angels, crosses,
mausoleums and other funerary art. “The design of the
Lipinski mausoleum harkens back to that bygone era
when massive but elegant and artistic sculptures and
structures dotted ‘rural’ cemeteries outside urban
areas,” Harwood noted.
It is great, Harwood added, that there are still families with the desire and financial means to erect largescale monuments and memorials. “It is refreshing to
see such creative creations amid the rather dull ground
or lawn markers so prevalent at many of today’s cemeteries,” he said. The Lipinskis would not say how
much the project cost.
For Jack Lipinski, CEO and president at CVR Energy in Sugar Land, Texas, it was important to be hands
on from the conception of the design to the mausoleum’s completion. “I needed to be informed along
the way … and I was,” Lipinski noted. “The finished
project is exactly what we wanted.”
Pat Lipinski was exuberant in her praise. “I loved it
… it was everything I imagined and more,” she said.
“It’s really a work of art.”
Attention was paid to every detail – from the
wrought iron doors to the stained-glass windows to the
smallest of architectural moldings. “It just fits perfectly
under the trees … it looks like it belongs there,” Pat
Lipinski said.
Once the private estate mausoleum was completed,
the Lipinskis went to work landscaping the area as
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The Lipinski mausoleum at the Magnolia Cemetery
located in Charleston, South Carolina.
(Photo credit: Jason Stemple Photography)
well as adding two benches resembling tree branches.
“This is a special place for us … we wanted it to
look its best,” Pat Lipinski said.
Their daughter has visited the cemetery and has
seen the mausoleum. And while Tara – who now
works as a figure skating analyst – doesn’t want to
contemplate a future without her parents, Pat Lipinski
knows she and her husband made the right decision.
“Tara is our only child, and we are such a close
family,” Pat Lipinski said. “This is something that
we wanted to do, needed to do.”
Having spent time at the cemetery during the past
two years, the Lipinskis have gained a greater appreciation for Magnolia, its history, and its beauty. “It’s
just a wonderfully peaceful and beautiful place,” Pat
Lipinski said.
The couple will be adding to the cemetery’s beauty
in the coming months, as well. “The cemetery has a
lot of old trees, and we’re working with the cemetery
staff to add some oak trees to the grounds,” Jack
Lipinski said. “It’s our way of giving back.” •
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