Spokane city father A.M. Cannon was proud of how Spokane Falls was booming in May 1888. More than 7,000 residents lived in the bustling town, and 12,000 more were expected to move in by the end of the year. Any town that hoped to succeed needed to take good care of its living residents – and its dead ones. And so Cannon convinced other city leaders that a lush, impressive cemetery was the natural next project for their vibrant community.

“Cannon knows the time is right. Lesser burial grounds exist in the area, but don’t compare to what he has in mind,” writes Dorothy Rochon Powers in “Heritage From Heroes,” a book that recounts the creation of Spokane’s early cemeteries.

The cemetery Cannon founded, Greenwood, is now called Greenwood Memorial Terrace. Located two miles from downtown Spokane, its 85 acres spread out over hillsides. The views are stunning. Directly across the street, Riverside Memorial Park, founded in 1914, undulates toward the banks of the Spokane River.

These cemetery properties are adjacent to land along Government Way, where development has taken off in just the past few years. Life Center opened a megachurch there. And River Run, an in-progress housing development, showcases to potential buyers both its privacy and proximity to the river.

If city fathers and mothers hadn’t set aside land for these cemeteries 100 years ago, the land would likely be developed now, filled with beautiful homes with gorgeous views, but enjoyed only by the lucky few who built there.

Instead, the cemeteries provide green space for all who visit. Greenbelt areas act as a community’s “lungs.” On this Memorial Day, as you visit loved ones in cemeteries throughout the Inland Northwest, pause to remember, and feel gratitude for, those who had the foresight to preserve land for cemeteries. They add breathing space for communities.

In Coeur d’Alene, citizens and leaders also demonstrated foresight. Forest Cemetery is near the city’s center, just a block away from busy Northwest Boulevard. According to a history of the cemetery on the city’s Web site, the land was once a local Army post. When it was abandoned, citizens “petitioned President Theodore Roosevelt to convey the old Army post cemetery to Coeur d’Alene for a municipal cemetery.” He agreed.

In the late 1960s, city leaders bought adjacent land and added Riverview Cemetery.

The cemeteries are located in an older, quiet Coeur d’Alene neighborhood. A walk through the area during a lunch-hour break can restore some internal peace and quiet.

As Inland Northwest communities grapple with the current housing boom, leaders and citizens would be wise to remember the growth-issue questions pioneer leaders pondered, including how to provide proper dwelling places for the dead among them.

Memorial Day reminds the living that those who have died are an important part of the community, still and forever.