In 2003, my sister and I did some genealogical research in Tennessee and Indiana. Of Dad's eight great-grandparents, we found the graves of five, including our great-great-grandfather, who died in 1854 and was reburied when the Tennessee Valley Authority flooded his home land. We found three of Dad's four grandparents. We can't find his parents. Dad showed me the cemetery where they were buried 20 years ago. But now we can't find that tiny rural spot. Originally my grandmother's grave was unmarked, the headstone laying to one side with Grandmom's dates and Granddad's name. There was no one around to ask to correct the situation. At this point, the cemetery seems lost, despite the fact that the county has an excellent volunteer program, which keeps up these old graveyards and documents the headstone information in an online database at the local library. They can't seem to locate the graves either.
Now my mother's plaque sits in the office of Grand View, waiting to be affixed to the headstone below my father's name.
I sincerely hope that she doesn't suffer the same fate as my Grandmom. Although I'm not one to visit graves that much, I would hope 50 years from now my niece's children can find their great-grandparents and feel the sense of heritage in that quaint cemetery as we have.
I strongly implore the powers that be that this memorial park can continue to serve its residents without succumbing to large corporate entities such as Forest Lawn, or going the way of my grandparents' cemetery.
MARTI PIKE
Glendale
Building needs to meet city's standards
