A Complete Circle of Care: Boxerwood Welcomes Meadow Donation
October 3, 2025
Boxerwood Education Association (BEA) recently welcomed a transformative gift for the local non-profit: donation of The Meadow, LLC, a 5-acre green burial preserve located immediately adjacent to Boxerwood’s 15-acre Woodland Garden. Established as a privately-held business, The Meadow has been successfully operating as the community’s only green cemetery since 2014. The donation brings the natural burial ground under care and administration of BEA for the first time. The acquisition also creates new pathways for Boxerwood to advance its long-term mission “to educate and inspire people of all ages to be environmentally responsible stewards of the Earth.”
"This feels like a natural evolution of our work," said Laurie Macrae, the BEA’s Interim Executive Director. "Both organizations share the same DNA of environmental stewardship and community care. By bringing The Meadow into the fold, Boxerwood can offer a more comprehensive approach to environmental responsibility. In addition to existing programs, we can now offer our community burial options that honor both loved ones and the Earth."
The change in The Meadow’s ownership re-unites the two properties – and organizations – whose fates have long been intertwined. The natural burial ground as well as the 15-acre woodland garden are both part of a one-of-a-kind arboretum created by Dr. Robert S. Munger in the middle of the 20th century. A physician by training but an artist at heart, Munger tended his private garden from the 1950s until his death in 1988. After Munger’s passing, a visionary initiative by Hunter Mohring, Karen “KB” Bailey, and Mollie Messimer led to the founding of BEA, the non-profit, in 1999. Mohring and Bailey are also the founders of The Meadow, LLC, which they established as a separately-operating entity in 2014. The gift of The Meadow to BEA creates “a unified 20-acre sanctuary for lifelong learning, reflection, and environmental stewardship,” said Macrae.
For Mohring, donation of The Meadow brings her life’s work full circle. “When I first discovered natural burial, it was like a flash of insight – here was something that enabled folks to live and die affirming their spiritual and environmental values," she said. "Boxerwood has been doing this work of environmental education for years, helping people understand their place in the natural world. Together, we can offer our community a complete circle of care – nurturing environmental stewardship from the earliest ages through life's final chapter."
Mohring and Bailey will continue to be involved in the burial ground’s operation in its transition year, alongside Boxerwood staff members. “We’re fortunate to have such a special, longtime partnership with KB and Hunter,” remarked Craig Vinecombe, president of the Boxerwood Board of Directors, “they are always helping Boxerwood grow and thrive.”
Macrae concurred. “This donation allows BEA to walk more closely with our community through every stage of life,” she said, noting the educational non-profit will continue to sustain its existing endeavors. As usual, the Woodland Garden will continue to remain open to the public, dawn-to-dusk, with The Meadow “as always, preserving peaceful spaces for reflection and remembrance.” Proceeds from the burial ground’s operations will fund care of The Meadow in perpetuity she said, as well help with general garden care.
For more information about The Meadow at Boxerwood, visit meadow.boxerwood.org