Cemetery volunteer pitches in behind the scenes

Young wife’s passion leads husband to lend technical expertise.

Little did Phillip Cheng know that marrying his beloved, Kimberly, meant spending a lot of time in a cemetery.

While Atlanta’s Oakland Cemetery is also a public park, the idea still was a bit unsettling, he said.

“I’m from Snellville and didn’t know anything about Oakland,” said Cheng, who now lives in Buckhead. “When we were dating in 2017 and looking for date spots, she suggested going there. And I thought, ‘Sure … a cemetery.’”

But the date went well and led to the couple marrying in 2020. And part of the union included becoming an Oakland volunteer.

“My wife has been involved there maybe since her teens when my mother-in-law started taking her there,” said Cheng. “Her whole family loves Oakland. And as I have become a part of the family, I volunteer now, too.”

Cheng began by participating in the annual Halloween tours. “They needed someone at the front and back of the groups to make sure no one got lost,” he said. “But I thought I could provide more value by doing technical things.”

Cheng, whose day job is director of engineering at a Norcross startup, joined Oakland Cemetery’s logistical team that works behind the scenes on lighting and audio for major events.

“I get to work with very cre

ative people to lay out power cables, electrical lines and lights,” he said. “We have planning meetings to figure out the logistical aspects and decide what we want to light, how to light it, what kind of mood or

atmosphere we want to create. It’s a very collaborative effort, and I’m definitely not the creative mind. I’m more of a technical person.”

Being behind the scenes often means long hours of preparation before an event and more time dismantling things afterward.

“We spend about two weeks before each event setting up,” he said. “Sometimes we’re there until after midnight. I often don’t get home until 1 a.m. or later.”

Those late-night hours meant Cheng had to get over any concerns about being in a cemetery after dark.

“Honestly, at first I was a little bit hesitant,” he said. “But after a while you get to know the park better and learn how everything works. I enjoy the scenery. You get to know the history behind each group of families, the mausoleums and the sites, and then it doesn’t feel so creepy. And at some point, we hope the spirits are there protecting our stuff.”

COURTESY A first date with his future wife at Atlanta’s Oakland Cemetery in 2017 eventually led Phillip Cheng of Buckhead to volunteer to help with the park’s technical needs for its many events.