Local helps preserve history of those buried at BI cemeteries
Published 1:30 am Thursday, May 28, 2026
Ashley Riley has made an impact on her community just a few years after moving to Bainbridge Island from the East Coast. She cleans graves at the cemeteries on the island to help preserve and protect others’ legacies. Also, as a writer and researcher, Riley tells stories of past BI residents who may have been forgotten throughout the years.
Originally from New York, Riley moved to Portland in 2017, then made her way up to Port Orchard in 2019, before settling on BI shortly after. “I first started feeling a deep connection to Bainbridge Island when I was walking through the cemeteries documenting headstones, and an even deeper connection formed when I started researching island history and learning more about the people buried in our cemeteries,” she said.
Riley began Bainbridge Grave Folk, posting on both Facebook and Instagram, with an audience of just three, she shared. “Gradually, that began to change as I started posting more, and I noticed more local islanders started engaging with my posts,” said Riley. “Everything just seemed to blossom very naturally from there, with the audience and interactions naturally growing more over time.”
The islander gained an interest in visiting cemeteries due to her interest in genealogy, especially during the global pandemic. “Researching and writing about cemeteries has connected me to people and organizations in ways I could have never imagined four years ago,” she said. “While just trying to find some historical information, I came across the Bainbridge History Museum, Bainbridge Island Genealogical Society (BIGS) and Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR).” At the time, BIGS had a small section on their website dedicated to island cemeteries, and one of DAR’s main pillars is historic preservation, she shared.
Riley joined BIGS and started her DAR application soon after, and was asked to present at a museum History Huddle about the island’s historic cemeteries. “It was there I met fellow islander and DAR member Amy Brooks, who had been cleaning headstones and restoring cemeteries with other folks in Kitsap County for a few years,” she said. “We are now both members of the same chapter, Elizabeth Ellington Chapter NSDAR, based out of Bremerton. I was recently elected to the chapter officer position of historian, which will start in June.”
Through both Brooks and DAR, Riley has been connected with others who do the exact same thing she does, with a love for cemetery history. With BIGS, Riley started off as a very quiet observer, attending Zoom meetings and presentations without really saying or doing anything, she shared. That role grew as she began to volunteer to help maintain their website and presenting at forums. Shortly after, Riley was elected to the board of directors for BIGS.
“It feels like one thing has always led to another,” said Riley. “The History Huddle led me to being invited on the Senior Center podcast, then the B.I.Stander podcast, then having an article written about my work in PNW Bainbridge, then being awarded the History Hero Award from the Bainbridge History Museum, which was huge; total surprise and shock, like the stuff of dreams, which I never could have imagined.”
In spring 2025, Riley began cleaning headstones on Bainbridge Island and documenting them for an online audience. After beginning at Kane Cemetery, she decided to document every cemetery and columbarium on the island. She then found herself wanting to go back and find out more about the lives of the headstones she was documenting.
“I have honestly been surprised by most people’s reactions to the stories I share,” said Riley. “I always tell people that it is as much an honor for me to tell their stories as it is to be recognized for it. Their reactions of enthusiasm, love and appreciation have had as much of an impact on myself as it seems to have had on the rest of the community. I’ve seen curiosity about island history sparked, and people who have probably never thought twice about leisurely walking through a cemetery, let alone cleaning a headstone, are now interested in headstone and cemetery preservation.”
One can, however, face challenges with people having differing opinions on Riley’s type of work. “I totally get it, I grew up in an Italian Catholic family, and cemeteries were reserved for funerals only,” she said. “It’s an honor to be entrusted with their stories. I feel very lucky when people read my stories and then want to reach out to me to tell me about someone they loved and lost, or to tell me a story about their family’s history on the island.”
Riley has formed connections with other islanders through Bainbridge Gravefolk, leading her to learn more about her home and the people in her community. “While I was cleaning the oldest headstones at Kane Cemetery, a woman connected to one of our Japanese American families came up to talk about her family, the recent loss of a close family member, and offered her sincerest appreciation for the time it takes to clean headstones,” she said. “I also had a woman who lives in Michigan reach out to me about his sister, who was recently buried at Hillcrest Cemetery, and was comfortable with me sharing his sister’s story with our community.”
Riley understands the depth of her involvement with the community and those with loved ones who have passed away. To manage that, she tries to only share stories of people who died before 1950, unless a family personally reaches out with wishes for her to help share who they were.
Now, with her involvement on the island and as what some would call a historian, Riley has been given the title of a writer, researcher, and storyteller. “I would never have really labeled myself as any of those things until I started Bainbridge Grave Folk,” she said. “One huge part of researching the lives of family members is finding their final resting places. I always tell people that just as important as where someone was born, when they were married, how many children they had, and where they lived, it is just as vital to their story when they died and where they were buried. It’s often an uncomfortable chapter of life for most people, but it’s the final chapter, and an important chapter nonetheless.”
Her interest in genealogy began with her own ancestry, in both Italy and New York. Riley did cemetery research, contacted relatives, and invested her time in finding lost details of her family members’ lives. “It was a satisfying and impactful moment for me when I was finally able to find where they were buried, and laid my eyes on their headstone pictures that volunteers uploaded for me,” she said.
Another challenge the researcher faces is others’ opinions about her cleaning the headstones. Some people prefer the old patina look of headstones compared to how they look after they are cleaned, she shared. “While I enjoy the look of antiques like anyone else, headstones are historical records, and cemeteries are like the museums where they are held,” she said. “Imagine if art preservationists had never cleaned the Mona Lisa? The painting probably would have never survived the centuries without careful preservation, and it’s the same way with headstones. Mold, algae, lichen, moss, and other organic materials eat away at the stone over time, which will eventually render it illegible, as I’ve seen happen on many historic headstones.”
Therefore, Riley cleans them with a regulated cleaning solution, proper brushes, and gentle cleaning methods that carefully remove all of the natural aging, and the solution will continue to work on the stone for years. Some records of people’s lives are only preserved by their headstones.
“From the moment I stepped foot in an island cemetery in 2022, to everywhere it has led me now, would have felt completely unfathomable a few years ago,” said Riley. “Overall, I think I’ve come to realize what a large community there is out there of people interested in the history and preservation of cemeteries. There are people in communities all over the world doing what I do, and I am just so thankful that I’ve managed to find my own small little place in our beautiful island community.”
