Roselawn Funeral Service

Roselawn Funeral Home and Cemetery received the Small Business of the Year award presented annually by the Greater Pueblo Chamber of Commerce. Founded in 1891, Roselawn is one of the state's oldest and largest cemeteries and the resting place for more than 61,000.Colorado State University crop researcher Mike Bartolo received the chamber's annual Charles W. Crews Business Leader award. A Pueblo native based in Rocky Ford, he was honored for his nearly 30-year career of helping Pueblo area farmers and also his work on the development of the Pueblo Chile and other kinds of crops.More than 150 people attended the awards luncheon at Pueblo Union Depot.Kevin F. McCarthy, executive director of Roselawn, accepted the award on behalf of the company's employees, the community members who serve on its various boards of directors and the families who put their faith in Roselawn to care for their departed loved ones.The cemetery is a reflection of Pueblo's long, rich and diverse history, said McCarthy, a longtime Pueblo civic leader and elected member of the Pueblo Board of Water Works, who worked in his family's funeral business from 1973 to 2004.It is the resting place for generations of Puebloans, early settlers, military veterans including a past Medal of Honor recipient, steelworkers, congressmen and governors, farmers and victims of local disasters such as the 1921 flood and the 1904 Eden train wreck, he said.The Bishop's Tomb for the late Arthur N. Tafoya also is at the cemetery following the longtime church leader's death this month at age 85."Their story is our story. ... Roselawn stands watch over 61,000 souls who have no voice. Roselawn stands watch over our history, heritage and our hopes. Thank you for today," McCarthy said.The funeral home continues to collect recollections of people interred at the cemetery for an upcoming book, "The Hearts and Souls of Roselawn," McCarthy said. Those interested in offering remembrances or materials are invited to call the funeral home... (Pueblo Chieftain)