Some cemetery headstones must be removed

QUESTION: There is a field just east of the maintenance building at Evergreen Cemetery. It is littered with old pieces of headstones, but there are also perfectly good headstones. Why are all these headstones strewn around this field?
- Michele M. Carvell

ANSWER: Some of these headstones came from graves where families had chosen to have people disinterred and moved elsewhere, according to cemetery director Will DeBoer. In other instances, stones were vandalized or in disrepair, but no family contact could be located. “We have to remove these stones. They’re personal property, but if they aren’t maintained we have to remove them. This is procedure at cemeteries everywhere. When a grave is 130 years old, sometimes it’s hard to find someone to contact.”