In a message dated 10/29/2002 8:50:21 AM US Eastern Standard Time,
stonehugger(a)insightbb.com writes:
I want to ask your opinion on the issue of cemeteries that we have
documented in our county. We always do a lookup to see who owns the
property that the cemetery is located on. This is to determine if it is
private or public owned to see if the trustee is responsible. It has been
discussed many times about the lack of care that a trustee gives the
cemeteries in their townships, that they know they are responsible for,
usually stating that they do not have the funds to care for them. My
question is: Do any other counties have instances where you ask who cares
for the cemeteries and they tell you the trustee takes care of it, even
though you are speaking to the private individual who OWNS the cemetery? I
hate to discourage anyone from taking care of a cemetery, but shouldn't the
resources of the trustee be spent on caring for the ones that he is legally
charged to care for?
Helen Wildermuth
Dear Helen, my opinion is if you believe it takes a village to raise a child
than how about it takes a village to raise the dead too! In my county the
Trustees are the best people I know and they are the do gooders regardless of
what specific areas go without our County would be in a disastrous state
without them. The Trustees in our County need and welcome and probably even
pray for help with cemetery preservation. I tend to be a straight shooter but
if the Trustee cares for a plot on private land that's good for a start.
Gradually add another and another and another and so on and so on until
hundreds of years of neglect is made right. The guy paying the taxes does not
own the plot, the dead guy under the ground is the rightful owner in any
circumstances.
NTFCannon(a)Aol.Com (Tom Cannon)