Peoria’s historic Springdale Cemetery has a new general manager.
Aaron Comte started with Springdale Cemetery in October, but officially took over the role of retiring General Manager Mark Matuszak last Wednesday.
Comte is working on his funeral director’s license, expecting to finish in April 2025. He graduated from Worsham College of Mortuary Science in 2024.
He said his family has a long running connection to funeral services in the Peoria area.
“My family roots actually go back to the 1880’s. The Wilton Mortuary is my family’s business and we’ve been in the funeral care industry for nearly 150 years,” Comte said. “Springdale is a very special place, I think, in the Peoria community and to myself in particular.”
The responsibilities of a cemetery’s general manager are expansive. Comte said he oversees general maintenance, develops future burial sites, stays on top of funeral industry trends and manages grant applications.
“But so far, I’ve, you know, just been kind of taking inventory and getting a baseline for where we are, you know, going into 2025 and where we can go in the next five to 10 years,” he said.
With Springdale’s 175th anniversary approaching, Comte has a lot to plan for, though there’s nothing specific he can talk about yet.
“We do have some exciting things in store on the horizon in the next few years,” he said.
