Restlawn
Memorial Park Association was founded on May 16, 1929 by a group of prominent
Wausau businessmen. The first perpetual care trust was established one year
later and remains in effect today.
In 1944, L. J. Corbeille and his family took over ownership for the cemetery
and renamed it Restlawn Memorial Park. William F. Krause became affiliated
with the Park in 1949 as its accountant. Records suggest Restlawn was Mr.
Krause's first client when he opened his accounting practice. The cemetery
was sold to Mr. Krause on September 16, 1960. Mr. Krause's two sons, William
F. Jr. and Tom G. managed the Park since 1960.
In
April, 1966, the Bishop of La Crosse, and pastors from area Catholic churches
entered an agreement for Restlawn to provide burial space to Catholic families
from the area. This affiliation with the Catholic Community continues to this
day as evidenced by the three Catholic gardens and Catholic mausoleum.
In
1977, The Tribute Companies was retained to design and market the cemetery's
first mausoleum. The firm successfully marketed several more buildings at
Restlawn including "The
Christus Catholic Mausoleum" and "The Memorial Chapel Mausoleum",
and in 1998, the company acquired ownership of Restlawn.
..
On September 2nd
of 2002, the Park was directly impacted by what turned out to be a category
F-1 tornado. Over three hundred trees were either uprooted or severely damaged.
While several memorials were moved or tipped over by fallen trees, no graves
were disturbed. The mausoleums withstood the direct impact of the tornado
extrememly well and received only minor damage. Restlawn continues to promote
its "Tree of Remembrance" program (planting trees in memory of loved
ones) to replace the natural beauty that was lost in the tornado.
Today,
Restlawn
is one of four cemeteries,within Wisconsin, family owned and operated by a
division of The Tribute Companies. The Tribute Companies (see
www.tributeinc.com for further information)
is owned by William R. Toson and consists of three different divisions offering
various products and services to the cemetery and funeral industry.
Vice President, Christine Toson Hentges, represents
the fourth generation 
to
operate cemeteries and has managed Restlawn Memorial Park since 2003. The
cemetery remains one of a few family owned and operated memorial parks in
the State of Wisconsin, which the Toson family takes great pride in.
(left:
Christine and Timothy Hentges,
Barbara and William R. Toson)
