Mark Bodnar, Tim Diamond and Dan Neet are the leadership team at Albany Rural Cemetery charged with restoring public trust and financial stability to one of the nation's earliest examples of the rural cemetery movement and a listing on the National Register of Historic Places.

“Angel at the Sepulcher” by Erastus Dow Palmer is one of the signature carvings at Albany Rural Cemetery on May 13, 2024, in Menands. The cemetery’s leaders in 2025 are striving to ensure quality customer service after the state Division of Cemeteries threatened to shut down the 184-year-old historic cemetery after the previous general manager’s malfeasance.

Albany Rural Cemetery board president Mark Bodnar, left, general manager Tim Diamond, center, and Dan Neet, building and grounds superintendent, strive to ensure quality customer service after the state Division of Cemeteries threatened to shut down the 184-year-old historic cemetery after the previous general manager’s malfeasance.

Gravestones are seen inside Albany Rural Cemetery along Middle Ridge Road on May 13, 2024, in Menands.

Albany Rural Cemetery’s office is seen on May 13, 2024, in Menands.

COLONIE — Three officials with the state Division of Cemeteries summoned Albany Rural Cemetery board president Mark Bodnar and vice president Michael Barrett to an emergency meeting.

The regulators were livid.

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It was late summer 2023, and general manager David Eslinger had just been fired for financial improprieties that included $42,229 in embezzled funds and other irregularities in the record-keeping of cremations and burials.

“We’re this close to shutting you down and locking the gates,” one of the state officials fumed, holding a thumb and forefinger a fraction of an inch apart.

It did not come to pass, but it was no idle threat since the Division of Cemeteries has ultimate authority of the roughly 1,800-not-for-profit cemeteries across the state.

Bodnar........

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