The name Dietz (sometimes spelled Diez, Dyetze, Diecz or Ditz) means "the one close to the land." It's fitting, then, that Dietz relatives are working hard to restore the land that serves as the final resting place for generations of their family.

The Dietz Family Cemetery is located on Skyview Lane in Hellam Township, just off of Route 462. Some of the stones have deteriorated since their original installation in the mid-1700s, but members of the Dietz Cemetery Association are in the process of restoring the markers. They're looking for help from interested volunteers, especially members of the Dietz family.

Thanks to extensive genealogy completed by several relatives, the Dietz name can be traced back as far as the 1300s. Records show that the people buried in the York cemetery came to central Pennsylvania in the early 1700s, purchasing land that is now home to Flinchbaugh's Orchard & Farm Market.

Stones in the cemetery mark the remains of people up until the 1950s. It is now a closed cemetery, meaning no more burials are allowed.

Upkeep of the cemetery over the years has relied on Dietz family members and donations they provide during an annual reunion.

Recently, however, Lee Dietz began to consider doing more extensive work on the cemetery. He was inspired by Gerald Dietz, a local teacher who taught him a lot about the family's history. When Gerald died last year, Lee decided it was time to step up.

He reached out to a friend of his, Jim Anspach, who had recently completed a restoration project with Bruce Herbst at Canadochly Lutheran Church in York.

Every Monday since September, a group of volunteers has been working on restoring the Dietz cemetery, and the group plans to continue working until the weather turns cold.

"The goal is to have this completed by the next Dietz reunion, which is at the end of July," said Lee, who is a member of the cemetery board.

Lee has relied on Jim and Bruce and their expertise to supervise the project.

"Bruce and Jim, they are saints as far as I'm concerned," Lee said. "When I started talking about this, Jim said, 'Hey, we'll come help.' They are teaching us how to do this."

Broken stones are being repaired with epoxy, rows are being straightened and buried markers are being unearthed. There are about 114 stones in the cemetery, although the volunteers have found a few more since starting the project.

Lee is hoping people will consider joining the effort, noting that anyone is welcome to help and the association is particularly looking for more Dietz relatives.

"In about 1953, there were 500-some-odd people at each reunion," he shared. "This last year, we had somewhere between 30 and 40. It's really decreased. With this project, we are trying to raise interest and get some younger people involved in helping."

Last names such as Leiphart, Miller and Cooper can be found throughout the Dietz genealogy book, said Sheila Miller, who is the treasurer of the association. Her grandfather was the association's first treasurer, and Sheila took over the job from her mother about 15 years ago.

"I've always been an old soul, and this sort of history was very interesting to me," she said, recalling her grandfather and his brothers speaking Pennsylvania Dutch out on her back porch on East Market Street in Hellam. "I love putting the pieces of the puzzle together to figure out this history. Being able to connect the dots is very interesting."

She noted that the cemetery has ongoing expenses, including fees for mowing the grass, and the group can always use donations.

"It could also be a donation of your time," she said. "We need people to help us clean the headstones, so if you can't do the manual labor, we could use help in other ways."

She and Lee hope people will step up to continue maintaining the cemetery. "It's really important to preserve history," she said. "A lot of people don't even know this cemetery exists here, but it's still important. This is a historical cemetery."

For more information on the cemetery or to donate, contact Sheila Miller at sheilascakery@comcast.net.