December 1, 2008
- Idaho Falls, Pocatello, Blackfoot - Idaho
Family Upset Headstones Moved
By Danielle Leigh
RIGBY: When you bury your loved ones in a cemetery, you expect their graves to be respected.
I talked to two people who say that isn't happening at the Pioneer Cemetery in Rigby. 35 years ago this month Jan Grover buried her infant daughter. Less than one year later her infant son Jason joined little Jennifer in the Pioneer Cemetery. Raised headstones marked both graves. "Over the last two years they have sunk both my babies headstones trying to make them flat and I made them raise them back where they were," says Grover. Then two months ago, the headstones were moved again. "Then I come and they have him all moved over here," says Grover. Jennifer is not where she is supposed to be either. Her headstone has been moved about a foot out. "I just started crying," says Grover. To make room for Jason's headstone, the cemetery sexton had to place part of it on the plot belonging to a little boy buried next to Jennifer. His family found out about the move while I was at the cemetery, and they were equally upset. "That belongs to Jay and it shouldn't have been shared. They really have desecrated a very sacred place for me," says Alana Jensen. Five weeks ago the cemetery promised Jan that Jason's headstone would be back in two weeks, but it still hasn't been replaced. The only way she got them to agree to put any headstone back is by agreeing to make the headstone flat. "I felt like I was pretty well trapped to have to agree to the flat headstone," says Grover. The board member I spoke to says they had to move the headstones to accommodate their lawn mower. "We have a wider mower deck, and it requires more space, and consequently to get the best value for the dollars that we are trying to spend we opted to move several headstones," says the board member who asked not to be identified. This board member tells me going around these families headstones with a different mower would double mowing time, and force the cemetery into a financial grave. "How much more does gas cost you today? The cemetery is caught in the same bind that everybody else is," says the board member. Idaho law prohibits anyone from damaging a grave, but it also give the cemetery the right to make any changes they see necessary for maintenance. So really, there is no legal issue. What makes both families upset is that the cemetery didn't notify anyone before making the change. "The biggest reason is as you go through and read the names on the headstones they don't always reflect the parents. In this particular instance the names were different so the sexton didn't recognize any coordinating names that he could make a contact with," says the board member. The sexton tells me Jason's headstone will be replaced by the end of the week, but it will be flat. Both families say their headstones should be grand-fathered in since their loved ones were buried before the new rules regarding cemetery rows. We want to know what you think. Did the cemetery do anything wrong moving the headstones, or should the families understand where the cemetery is coming from? Email us your opinion at yourturn@kidk.com. |
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