Kootenai County veterans post secures markers for three graves at Mica Peak Cemetery

Rain did not stop about 50 people from gathering at Mica Peak Cemetery for the long-delayed recognition of three servicemen whose graves had gone too long without lasting military markers. Bronze memorial markers were installed for Joseph Alexander Phillips, Elmer Jess and Timothy Bell, ending a gap that left a Civil War veteran, a World War I soldier and a Marine lance corporal without permanent acknowledgment of their service.

The effort began when Bob Burton, president of the Mica Peak Cemetery Association, looked for help and connected with former American Legion Post 14 Commander Robert Smee. From there, the Coeur d’Alene post verified military records and worked to secure official bronze markers. Jerry Staub, the post adjutant, said the project had been estimated at about $1,000 per marker. Local help followed from Eric English of English Funeral Chapels and T.J. Harris of Coeur d’Alene Memorial Gardens.

Community support helped push the project across the finish line. A veteran who responded to the earlier call for help donated $1,000 and pledged another $500 if needed. Debbie Mitchell of Coeur d’Alene, Phillips’ great-great-granddaughter, also stepped up to fund his marker, and the family discussed adding Harriet Campbell’s name to the stone.

The three men represented more than 130 years of service history. Phillips enlisted Feb. 7, 1865, in the 44th Infantry, Wisconsin Volunteers, served in the Quartermaster Department as a mechanic and was discharged Aug. 28, 1865. He died March 8, 1913, at age 89. Jess was inducted into the Army on March 31, 1918, served in Company A, 116th Signal Battalion and died March 5, 1924, at age 33. Bell served in the U.S. Marine Corps as a lance corporal from summer 1996 to October 1998, deployed to the Persian Gulf as a rifleman and died Feb. 2, 2020.

The ceremony included prayers, three-volley honors, taps, folded flags and shell casings presented to relatives. Bell’s father, Bishop Pat Bell, led the opening prayer, and his sisters, Bekah Wilson and Rachel Wiggins, traveled from southern Idaho to attend. Although Mica Peak Cemetery sits in Washington, the effort was a Kootenai County undertaking, driven by Coeur d’Alene veterans and family members who refused to let the record stay broken.

The case also points to a broader issue in private cemeteries. The Department of Veterans Affairs furnishes headstones, markers and medallions at no charge for eligible veterans, but installation costs are not included. That means older graves can still lose their identification over time, and families or volunteers who suspect a military grave is unmarked can start with the cemetery association, then work with a veterans post or funeral home to verify service and request a VA marker.