The Southern Memorial Association Board is pleased to welcome Denise A. McDonald as the new Executive Director of Lynchburg’s Old City Cemetery (OCC), effective May 7, 2018. Dating to 1806 and known for its history and horticulture, the Cemetery is a Virginia Historic Landmark on the National Register of Historic Places. The OCC offers: gardens with 200 varieties of antique roses, an arboretum, columbarium, medical museum, historic train station, a wedding and events chapel, and other historic structures and museums.
McDonald comes to the OCC from Lynchburg College where she worked for eighteen years as Vice President of Advancement and Vice President of Major Gifts. Prior to Lynchburg College she worked in Development and Alumni Relations at Sweet Briar College and Randolph-Macon Woman’s College.
Previously, she was Director of Marketing and Public Relations for the Richmond Symphony, Manager in the Public Relations Office for Colonial Williamsburg, and earlier as a newspaper reporter for the Virginia Gazette.
McDonald earned her B.A. from the College of William & Mary and is pursuing a Master’s Degree of NonProfit Leadership at Lynchburg College. She is also a graduate of the Harvard University of the Institute of Education Management.
McDonald commented, “The Old City Cemetery is a real treasure of Lynchburg history and horticulture, and I am excited and honored to succeed the very dedicated people who established and guided this outstanding place and made it one of the most popular sites in the city.”
