a church officer or employee in charge of the maintenance of church property: duties may include ringing the church bells and digging graves in the churchyard
See sexton in American Heritage Dictionary 4
(sĕkˈstən)
noun
An employee or officer of a church who is responsible for the care and upkeep of church property and sometimes for ringing bells and digging graves.
(sĕkˈstən), Anne 1928-1974.
American poet whose works, including the collections Live or Die (1966) and The Death Notebooks (1974), document her struggle with mental illness and her search for faith.