Almost from the moment the Seaman First Class Billy Turner Veterans Cemetery first opened its gates in 2022, Jamie Smith has been a familiar face at the facility.

While the Lone Grove Native currently serves as state cemetery administrator for the facility, she actually started out as a volunteer.

“After Covid, I was displaced from my job,” Smith said. “At that time jobs were sparse and because I’m not an idle person, I wanted to do some volunteer work. Because my family is very military oriented, I decided to volunteer here.”

Smith said she did not know much about the cemetery when she began volunteering. She quickly fell in love with it.

“The first time I saw a service here, I knew I made the right decision,” she said. “There’s just something so moving about seeing a servicemember in uniform handing over a folded flag. I can’t imagine doing anything better than helping families during grief. It’s also about providing that last bit of service to our veterans.”

When the position of state cemetery administrator came open, Smith applied and received the job.

“I loved what this cemetery represented, and I loved the work, so I’m thrilled to be able to do this work as a career,” she said. “This is the first time I’ve ever had a job that is not about turning a profit. Here it’s not about making money, it’s an intrinsic award. My entire life I’ve always worked for a corporation, and there’s a big difference between making someone else a million dollars and feeling like a million bucks when you get home.”

Because of state and federal funding, no veteran has to pay to be buried in the cemetery.

“The unique thing about our cemetery is you cannot buy a space,” Smith said. “You have to earn it with service to our country. It does not cost a veteran anything for them, their spouse or a qualifying dependent to be buried here. That includes opening and closing the grave site, the committal with honor service, their marker, and perpetual care.”

There are currently 147 veterans buried in the cemetery, the vast majority of whom come from Oklahoma. Smith said 18% of the burials represent unclaimed veterans.

“Unclaimed veterans can mean a couple of different things,” she said. “Sometimes the families are unable to attend to their relative, or they’ve been displaced. Sometimes families get disconnected. Maybe they didn’t have a family, or no family was found.

“But essentially it comes down to nobody being present for their burial. Here we’re able to make sure those unclaimed veterans receive the respect and recognition they deserve.”

Smith said the cemetery consists of 20 acres with 12 acres currently developed. As space gets filled, more of the cemetery’s acreage will be developed. Once all phases of the cemetery are developed, it will accommodate over 25,000 veterans and their spouses.

“Right now we’re averaging about 10 burials a month,” Smith said. “While that’s double the amount of burials we got when we first opened, it just goes to show that we’ll have plenty of space available for many, many years to come.”