Meet Our Guides
Our Guides are the heart of Bellefontaine Cemetery and Arboretum & educational programming. Comprised of dedicated staff and passionate volunteers, their expertise in history, architecture, horticulture, and the fascinating stories of those laid to rest here brings the grounds to life for thousands of visitors each year. To inquire about scheduling a private group tour or for general tour questions, please contact our office at (314) 381-0750 or email Lacey Reinhardt.
Our Dedicated Guides
Tom Allen
Tom is our Executive Coordinator and one of our dedicated Guides. He became hooked on the cemetery at the “Bellefontaine in Bloom” event in 2011. Since then, Tom has enjoyed sharing the stories and history of Bellefontaine and St. Louis, focusing on how connecting people to places and events helps bring these narratives to life. He is also keenly interested in the iconography and sculpture found throughout the grounds. Tom is an active member of the 1904 World’s Fair Society and the Professional Tour Guide Association of St. Louis.
Cathleen Beekman
Cathleen joined the guide group five years ago after being inspired by Carol Shepley’s book, Movers, Shakers, Scalawags and Suffragettes: Tales From Bellefontaine Cemetery. She found an opportunity to learn about St. Louis history through the people buried here, using it as a springboard to explore memorial architecture and the arboretum. Whether leading a walking tour, car caravan, or bus tour, Cathleen often highlights notable and notorious women, as well as Civil War participants.
Jerry Garrett
Jerry, a retired hospital accountant, has a longstanding passion for the Lewis and Clark Expedition and is an excellent resource on this important era of American history. He has been giving tours at Bellefontaine for five years, continually researching the cemetery and the St. Louis area to interject interesting and entertaining tidbits into his tours.
Dan
Fuller
Dan serves as our Cemetery Chronicler. Since 1997, he has actively traced his family history, which provides him with particular insight into the everyday lives of people in historic St. Louis. Dan is also a docent at Tower Grove House (Missouri Botanical Garden) and an active member of the 1904 World’s Fair Society.
Lacey
Reinhardt
Lacey is our Event and Volunteer Coordinator and an experienced Guide. To learn about volunteer opportunities or to schedule a group or private tour, please contact the office at (314) 381-0750 or email Lacey Reinhardt.
Lauren
Schoellhorn
Lauren is a passionate educator who first discovered Bellefontaine in 2005. Her academic work focused on using historic cemeteries as primary resources for social studies educators, and she now serves as an adjunct professor at Webster University. Lauren’s tours cover a potpourri of notable residents, local and world histories, sculptural iconography, and architectural styles.
Mary
Ellen Vander Linden
Mary Ellen’s love of history led her to Bellefontaine. Her enthusiasm for the cemetery is immediately evident, and she contextualizes the information she shares within the history of St. Louis, Missouri, and the United States. She focuses on the questions: Who were these people? What was happening when they lived and died? Why are they important?