Chapel opens

Jace Radke

Tuesday, May 30, 2000 | 11:31 a.m.

Rowena Rustvold walked among the foot-high American flags meticulously placed by each headstone at the Southern Nevada Veterans Memorial Cemetery on Monday afternoon.

Thousands of flags snapped to attention in the wind that blew across the Eldorado Valley as Rustvold knelt at her husband's grave.

"He wanted to be buried here," Rustvold said of her husband, Raymond, who served as a Merchant Marine in World War II and passed away 18 months ago. "It's just very beautiful with the mountains and now the new chapel."

Rustvold was one of about 1,000 who celebrated Memorial Day with the opening of a new 4,800-square-foot chapel at the cemetery at 1900 Buchanan Blvd. in Boulder City.

Eleanor Sundt accompanied Rowena to the cemetery, where she says she and her husband, a retired Air Force officer of 25 years, plan to be buried.

"I remember coming here 10 years ago when they first started the cemetery, and it was just this little dry dirt space," Sundt said. "I can't believe that this beautiful place sprung from that."

Christine Milburn, president of Operation Godspeed, a nonprofit group of volunteers that raised money for the $1.3 million chapel over the last four years, says she never had a doubt that the chapel would be built.

"It took a long time and there was a lot of work by a lot of people, but we got it done," Milburn said. "It was special today to see all the veterans here inside the chapel."

So many turned out, in fact, that the chapel's four sliding glass doors, which line the southern and northern walls of the building, were opened so veterans sitting in overflow seats on the chapel's 7,744-square-foot covered porch could hear the dedication ceremonies.

The ceremonies began with a flyover of Nellis Air Force Base jets in the missing man formation and ended with a 21-gun salute and the playing of "Taps."

Speaking at the dedication were Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., state Sen. Jon Porter, R-Boulder City, state Assemblywoman Gene Segerblom, D-Boulder City, and Boulder City Mayor Bob Ferraro.

Vietnam veteran and assistant director of Nevada's Office of Veterans Affairs Steve Long also spoke at the dedication about how important the chapel is to veterans and families who come to the cemetery to visit loved ones.

"This is now one of the best veteran facilities that I have seen, and I think that the project turned out much better than originally expected," said Long, a former prisoner of war. "I mean it when I say Operation Godspeed has been a godsend."

The chapel sits on a hill on the east end of the cemetery and is approached by a plaza and a "Walk of Life" pathway with stones memorializing men and women who served in the military.

The chapel has a skylight that runs from the east end to the west, where two large windows stretch to the floor and allow sunlight into the white interior of the building.

"The site was fantastic, and we wanted to allow views of the mountains that surround the Eldorado Valley," architect Ken Horak said. "Everyone seems pretty happy with it, and that's a rewarding feeling."

The chapel can be divided in half to allow for two funeral services at the same time, and will be available to keep people out of hot, cold or windy weather that has plagued outdoor funerals at the cemetery in the past.

The cemetery is the second most utilized veterans cemetery in the nation, with more than 1,300 burials a year.

Rowena Rustvold also stopped on the "Walk of Life" on Monday at a stone with her husband's name engraved in it.

"My husband had a living spirit and was very active," Rustvold said. "I plan on joining him here eventually in this peaceful place."

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