Debbie Aldrige’s mom died in February 2018 and was buried at Rosehill-Elmwood Cemetery & Mausoleum in an incorrect plot.
Aldrige said her father’s parents were previously buried next to each other, and an adjacent plot was reserved for another family member.
When Aldrige’s mother passed, she was incorrectly placed in that adjacent lot despite a request to be placed elsewhere. About two weeks later, Aldrige was notified her mother had been moved to her current location.
When Aldridge went to visit the site this Easter, she found the ground around the gravesite had not been mowed for the season.
“I went up there and I really got upset and that’s when I first started doing something,” Aldrige said.
That day, she was brought to tears to see her mother’s grave in the condition it was, and her husband went to gravesite with a weedeater and treated the site himself. Since Easter, Aldrige’s husband has gone to the site three times to ensure it is well-mowed.
Since then, Aldrige has been in contact with the cemetery and the regional director to get the cemetery in better condition for her mother and the rest of those buried.
After convening and talking with other people in the city, she learned several residents are also experiencing some issues with the upkeep of their loved ones’ gravesites.
Aldrige created a Facebook group in July that has now grown to about 80 members. They post and talk about the different issues with the way the grounds crew has been handling the plots.
Some stories include graves completely hidden by the high grass, the wireless mowers rolling over headstones, flipped over headstones, and more families mowing around their loved ones’ graves.
She noted that when a previous media outlet went to the cemetery to report on the issue, she noticed several lawnmowers leveling the land out.
“It’s very disrespectful, because the way I look at it, my mom deserves so much better than that,” Aldrige said.
The grounds are managed by Park Lawn Corporations. Owensboro Times attempted to contact the executive director but was told they were on vacation and unable to comment at this time.
