History of the East Elfers Cemetery

On December 14, 1885, the Lake Butler Villa Company deeded the land now known as the East Elfers Cemetery to the Trustees of the Clearwater Circuit Tampa District of the Florida Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church South.  Burials started shortly thereafter.  One tombstone shows a death date in 1984.  It is the final resting place of some of the early West Pasco Residents who are listed on www.fivay.org including members of the Baillie, Stevenson, Baker, Draft, Sawyer and Burney families and many others. 

Until 1978 this cemetery was managed by a Cemetery Association where members made cash contributions and participated in workdays to maintain the Cemetery.  There are no known records of plot sales during this period, but various families had designated areas and there are records of which families were contributing from the 1950’s to 1978.

In 1978 responsibility for the Cemetery was given to the newly organized Asbury United Methodist Church.  They designated the cemetery as perpetual care began selling plots. 

Sadly, no accurate and recorded survey had been found to facilitate easy record keeping.  However, the bylaws from this time stated that 2/3 of all revenue from sale of grave sites must be put in an Irrevocable Trust managed by the Florida Methodist Foundation. 

Unfortunately, this requirement was omitted in the 1993 revision to the bylaws.