Now that approximately $70,000 has been earmarked and approved in the 2013 Evansville City Budget for Oak Hill & Locust Hill Cemeteries, it is time to check back up once more on the conditions of these two cemeteries.
Previously, we had started to see some minor improvements at both of the cemeteries as new road lines had received a fresh coat of paint, some graves were stood back up, and a few vases had been put back on top of a few grave markers.
I was hoping this new wave of progress would be just the beginning of our city starting to finally tackle this enormous issue of city cemetery neglect. When the 2013 Evansville City Budget passed, the cemeteries were really the only thing I was optimistic about. I fully understood that the funds in this year’s budget would only be a drop in the bucket towards completely overhauling both cemeteries. Nevertheless, I fully expected these funds to be focused entirely on the graves themselves, not wasted on needless advertising expenses.
This past week, I was surfing the internet when I noticed an advertisement from Oak Hill and Locust Cemeteries on the Evansville Courier & Press’ website. If you sit on the site for just a few moments, the advertisement, which is known as a banner ad in the online marketing industry, flashes the following line…”Your loved ones will be cared for”. Given the conditions of both cemeteries, I am absolutely shocked and appalled that anyone would think their family members would be taken care of properly in a cemetery that decides to buy online advertisements when both of their cemeteries are in deplorable conditions. What makes this decision even more offensive is the fact that they chose to advertise with the only media outlet that didn’t have the guts to investigate the conditions of these cemeteries.
As soon as I spoke in front of the City Council last summer about getting funds for Locust and Oak Hill, I was approached by both news stations and 1 of the 2 newspaper organizations. Unfortunately, I was out of town when Lorilyn Prestidge from 14 News called to investigate the situation at both cemeteries, but I was able to show Jordan Vandenberge of Eyewitness News around Locust Cemetery…
http://tristatehomepage.com/fulltext?nxd_id=536592
And of course, those who visit the City-County Observer frequently remember the initial article that got the wheels turning in the first place…
https://city-countyobserver.com/2012/07/16/evansvilles-grave-injustice-by-jordan-baer/
So why did the city advertise with the only news outlet that DID NOT give one ounce of energy towards getting these cemeteries corrected? Why reward an organization for not doing the right thing? Many people have asked me why the C&P is/was so hellbent on helping Winnecke knock down Roberts Stadium, helping the ECVB construct 8 dull, boring, and overpriced ball fields in the middle of nowhere, puching to spend $20 to $25 million dollars of taxpayers money to build a second class downtown arena hotel and helping the Chamber lobby to change city and county government. Well, consider this advertisement Exhibit A for why doing the wrong thing can be the rewarding thing to do in Evansville. Is this really how we want our city to conduct business?
When I spoke in front of the City Council in regards to these cemeteries, I heard the following responses from various members of the council…
” Where is the money tree going to come from?”
” Government can’t be everything to everybody.”
” I haven’t heard any complaints yet from the dead.”
What I would like to ask Evansville’s nine council members is this- Do you believe the funds approved by your governing body should go towards buying online banner ads for hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars, or do you think these funds should go towards rehabilitating, maintaining, and preventing further damage to both cemeteries? I know which option sounds better to me!
For those who don’t believe that there still is a lot of work to be done, perhaps the photos taken this week at Oak Hill Cemetery will change your mind…
http://s1295.beta.photobucket.com/user/RailOverAuto/library/Oak%20Hill%20Cemetery%20Photos
Another problem that I have noticed with the grave sites has been the complete lack of leadership displayed by the city, in particular the mayor, towards getting these cemeteries going in the right direction. According to photos posted by Carol McClintock that were shared on Oak Hill’s Facebook group, Lloyd was at the cemetery during Veteran’s Day…
Since the conditions at the cemeteries has been made public, we have yet to hear even a whisper from the mayor himself about these cemeteries. Given the photo evidence of Winnecke at Oak Hill Cemetery on Veteran’s Day, I have to wonder if he took the time to explore the grounds of Oak Hill or if he came just to pose for the convenient p.r photo shoot and then leave. I ask this because it would seem to me that if he genuinely saw the deplorable conditions of these cemeteries he would be more motivated to do something about them other than to go silent on the issue.
When I was walking through Oak Hill yesterday, I passed by a couple of ladies who were trying to fix up the grave of one of their family members. They told me they were embarrassed by the conditions of the cemetery and that they were tired of it getting worse year after year. It would seem to me that if our city is going to genuinely convince Evansville residents that “your loved ones will be cared for,” they should try a new approach that involves actually cleaning up the cemeteries, not buying advertisements with the Courier & Press and only getting involved in the cemeteries when it’s camera day.
FOOTNOTE: POSTED WITHOUT OPINION, BIAS OR EDITING.
Outstanding article Mr.Baer. Also great research.
The Courier and Press needs someone like you to write “tell it like it is ” articles. Let’s see if they will finally write the real truth article concerning the horrorable state of city owned cemeteries.
Shame on you Mayor Winnecke for allowing the final resting place for loved ones continue to be in this deplorable condition. In case you and the preacher man who is directly involved in the upkeep of these hollow grounds, shame on the both of you.
CCO Reader,
Thank you for the post. I have been out of town ironically for a funeral in Henderson and I was quite surprised to see so many comments, much less a bunch of fabricated lies.
Let me start off by saying that I’m not going to waste any time arguing with Linzy on anything whatsoever. Despite his obsession with less government, this really doesn’t have a thing to do with that. What this article is about is properly using funds that have already been allocated for these cemeteries- plain and simple. You could even make the argument that these funds are being put back in to replace some of the funds that have been pulled from the cemeteries over the years. Like it or not, these cemeteries are publicly owned and they will be publicly maintained, period. And that’s all I’m going to say about that.
Next, I don’t know what this John West’s problem is but some of these accusations are quite offensive.
First of all, NOTHING and I mean NOTHING in this article has to do with any complaints towards Chris Cooke. In fact, when I spoke in front of the City Council, it was Todd Robertson, not Cooke, who spoke on behalf of the city about what to do about these problems. Whatever Chris does, whether it be a 100 + hr work week or a vacation week is completely irrelevant to this article. Any decisions that are going to be made in regards towards forming some kind of action plan will certainly come from those above him.
Saying I blame Chris for this is like saying I blame Chris for the mowing company knock over a head stone. That’s absurd. I have talked to BOTH Chris and his gf these past few months and I’m actually glad to hear that he has gone to college for cemetery management and this is actually his field of study, not like the Denise Johnson/Parks Dept situation.
Do I agree with Chris not supporting Rick Davis? Absolutely not. Do I blame Chris for the cemetery woes? NO! It’s quite clear to me from the link that James posted that these conditions can be blamed on those who managed the cemeteries DECADES ago. I know an earthquake hit us last week but I don’t believe it messed up the cemeteries that bad.
The only time I have ever discussed Chris on the blog was when I was THANKING him for making progress…
http://agraveinjustice.blogspot.com/2012/10/update-slow-but-steady-progress-at-our.html
Next, I’m having a hard time with this belief that I’m just looking for fame in this and am putting down the cemeteries. I am the only one who went in from of the council to get funding TO REPAIR these cemeteries. And this wasn’t just a stand there and grandstand issue. On the first night, I didn’t have enough votes for the funding so I had to really fight and tug to finally get enough council members to actually go out and look at the sites and then finally give us the funding to actually get something going. I’ll be danged if all those funds that I put time into fighting for are going to be given to the C&P. I refuse to let this be mismanaged like the arena project’s construction.
Even West himself admitted that these cemeteries are having a hard time with such low financial support. So how is me getting funds for these cemeteries, then making sure they actually get put towards the cemeteries make me some kind of naysayer towards the cemeteries? Let’s be honest, the city didn’t start making improvements until after the grave site conditions were made public, they even admitted that at the meeting (and no it wasn’t Chris).
Lastly, if West thinks I did that bad of a job on Roberts, why didn’t he come forward to fight for it? I’m sure I understand how his firing was politically motivated yet Roberts’ demolition wasn’t, especially when the evidence was in plain site…
http://www.courierpress.com/news/2012/apr/26/roberts-stadium-followup-hrp/?print=1
Long story short, haters are gonna hate and potatoes are going to potate. But at the end of the day, we are going to get the funds to fix most, if not all, of these grave sites, and we are going to do it with, or without, those who just want to start trouble. This is just the tip of the iceberg for the amount of cleaning we are going to do on a city that has been neglected for years do to sprawl.
“Let me start off by saying that I’m not going to waste any time arguing with Linzy on anything whatsoever.”
Good idea. Focus on the debates you stand a snowball’s chance of winning. 😉
CCO Reader,
Thank you for the post. I have been out of town ironically for a funeral in Henderson and I was quite surprised to see so many comments, much less a bunch of fabricated lies.
Let me start off by saying that I’m not going to waste any time arguing with Linzy on anything whatsoever. Despite his obsession with less government, this really doesn’t have a thing to do with that. What this article is about is properly using funds that have already been allocated for these cemeteries- plain and simple. You could even make the argument that these funds are being put back in to replace some of the funds that have been pulled from the cemeteries over the years. Like it or not, these cemeteries are publicly owned and they will be publicly maintained, period. And that’s all I’m going to say about that.
Next, I don’t know what this John West’s problem is but some of these accusations are quite offensive.
First of all, NOTHING and I mean NOTHING in this article has to do with any complaints towards Chris Cooke. In fact, when I spoke in front of the City Council, it was Todd Robertson, not Cooke, who spoke on behalf of the city about what to do about these problems. Whatever Chris does, whether it be a 100 + hr work week or a vacation week is completely irrelevant to this article. Any decisions that are going to be made in regards towards forming some kind of action plan will certainly come from those above him.
Saying I blame Chris for this is like saying I blame Chris for the mowing company knock over a head stone. That’s absurd. I have talked to BOTH Chris and his gf these past few months and I’m actually glad to hear that he has gone to college for cemetery management and this is actually his field of study, not like the Denise Johnson/Parks Dept situation.
Do I agree with Chris not supporting Rick Davis? Absolutely not. Do I blame Chris for the cemetery woes? NO! It’s quite clear to me from the link that James posted that these conditions can be blamed on those who managed the cemeteries DECADES ago. I know an earthquake hit us last week but I don’t believe it messed up the cemeteries that bad.
The only time I have ever discussed Chris on the blog was when I was THANKING him for making progress…
http://agraveinjustice.blogspot.com/2012/10/update-slow-but-steady-progress-at-our.html
Next, I’m having a hard time with this belief that I’m just looking for fame in this and am putting down the cemeteries. I am the only one who went in from of the council to get funding TO REPAIR these cemeteries. And this wasn’t just a stand there and grandstand issue. On the first night, I didn’t have enough votes for the funding so I had to really fight and tug to finally get enough council members to actually go out and look at the sites and then finally give us the funding to actually get something going. I’ll be danged if all those funds that I put time into fighting for are going to be given to the C&P. I refuse to let this be mismanaged like the arena project’s construction.
Even West himself admitted that these cemeteries are having a hard time with such low financial support. So how is me getting funds for these cemeteries, then making sure they actually get put towards the cemeteries make me some kind of naysayer towards the cemeteries? Let’s be honest, the city didn’t start making improvements until after the grave site conditions were made public, they even admitted that at the meeting (and no it wasn’t Chris).
Lastly, if West thinks I did that bad of a job on Roberts, why didn’t he come forward to fight for it? I’m sure I understand how his firing was politically motivated yet Roberts’ demolition wasn’t, especially when the evidence was in plain site…
http://www.courierpress.com/news/2012/apr/26/roberts-stadium-followup-hrp/?print=1
Long story short, haters are gonna hate and potatoes are going to potate. But at the end of the day, we are going to get the funds to fix most, if not all, of these grave sites, and we are going to do it with, or without, those who just want to start trouble. This is just the tip of the iceberg for the amount of cleaning we are going to do on a city that has been neglected for years do to sprawl.
CCO Reader are you realy telling the truth that the department head (Mr. Robinson)in charge of the up keep of our city owned cemeteries is a preacher.
If this statement is true, why in the world would a preacher allow these cemeteries be in this shape. Anybody knows what church this city employee preaches at so I can avoid it.
Lousy research. The paper did stories in May explaining the problems. So it isn’t true.
Just heard from a Evansville city council member that the Mayor hired a lawn care business from Kentucky to cut all the city ruin cemeteries.
Why in the hell wouldn’t the Mayor hire people who pay city taxes from Evansville to cut grass at city owned cemeteries?
The more I read and hear about this guy, the less I like him.
Where is the hell this this guy come from?
Can you confirm that? Very dissapointing if that money isn’t being put back into our local economy.
You are going to complain about that when he have police and fire fighters who work for the city taxpayers who dont live here and are allowed to take their cars out of county?
They have to. You might decide to ride a float out of town.
Out of their jurisdiction doesnt really apply but nice attempt at humor. I got some even better ones 🙂
I bet you do. I’ve always thought the democrats hired nothing but clowns.
Both sides do. Thats the beauty of the system. Makes it so much fun. Better to be Pennywise than Happy Kellems though!
Chris Cooke is still in charge of the cemetaries, nothing will change. It amazes me that an issue is brought up and promises are made but there is never any followup. The McCurdy, Mesker Ampitheater, the cemetaries, John Friend’s and Lon Walters petitions against Vectren, all things that showed promise, had their 15 minutes of fame and were quietly dropped when none of the old boys could make any more money off of them.
It amazes me that the city cemetery critics are unknown and so uninformed. Our city cemeteries are in excellent shape considering the age of the cemeteries and the low amount of money available. Selling grave lots is extremely important in bringing in income, thus the need to advertise. A little research on actual facts would help the author of this attempt for him to get some attention (he lost his poorly fought rush to save Roberts Stadium… so now this is his new hope for fame). If you really are concerned about the very old sections of the cemetery, start a campaign to raise funds to lay foundations for these older markers to keep them upright. Several hundred thousand dollars should get you off to a good start. But before you get carried away remember there exist laws that protect these grave markers even from good intentioned folks from damaging them in their attempt to restore them. You need your volunteers (and you are going to need a lot of them) to become certified with the State Department of Natural Resources for grave marker restoration. You might take time to actually see what “deplorable or neglected” cemeteries look like… they do not look like Oak Hill or Locust Hill Cemeteries. I am very proud of our city cemeteries and think they are being maintained quite well. What qualifications do any of you critics and Jourdan Baer have to say what is “deplorable” or not up to standards? How many cemeteries have any of you even seen… 4, 5, 10? I seriously doubt that any of you have taken a good look at even 10 cemeteries. Over the last 50+ years, I have visited hundreds of cemeteries in Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky and Ohio. Many of the good ones only needed mowing or removal of old fallen limbs, but some could actually be declared “deplorable” because cattle and hogs are destroying the entire cemetery. Or how about the vandalism that causes untold amount of damages to grave markers each year? Instead of writing about what you think is so wrong, get off your high horses and raise some money to help improve the fallen markers, etc. Stop blaming the people who are working to keep the cemeteries the best that they can! John G. West, aka: Indiana Bones, a Cemetery Geek
While I agree with the article’s author on the advertising angle, I tend to agree with Mr West on the rest of it. Having done a lot of reading on this subject since this story first broke, and based also on my experiences in many other old cemeteries, I’d say the photos submitted as evidence for this piece show nothing quite as deplorable as we are led to believe.
A small group of men with a weekend to burn and many of the problems could be solved without thousands of dollars of government funds. Other problems such as broken stones would require some further preservation, but Mr. West is right, these things are not out of the ordinary for cemeteries of this age.
In some photos, the author seems to be taking photos simply because the headstones are not in perfect rows or pressure washed. I can see a clear need in some for the stones to be sat upright, but in others it seems we are supposed to decry the presence of a tree trunk intruding too close to a stone.
Well said John
John, no offense but this has got to be the worst post I have ever seen written on the entire internet and believe me when I say that. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to look at those pictures and see instantly that you’re trying to put lipstick on a pig. You aren’t fooling anyone besides the people who want to believe you on here.
You really need to take off that goofy hat of yours and take a real close look at these cemeteries. I will admit that I have not been to Oak Hill in sometime but I have been to Locust quite often and it’s despicable and deplorable.
It would be oh so nice if you would quit trying to throw blame onto others who are fighting to keep this city from turning into a dump and actually start accepting reality. I really wish you and Chris would wake up and grow up one of these days. I have been reading and listening to your group for some time now and this tune is really getting old.
Anyone can Google John’s name like I did and see the guy has credentials to back up what he’s saying. He’s obviously been to dozens if not hundreds of old cemeteries searching through history and genealogy. The man might not be saying what some of you want to hear, but he is correct on this one.
Who among us has not been to a cemetery that was in much worse shape than Oak Hill or Locust? I think those among us so quick to attack simply don’t have the experience to know what aging cemeteries usually look like.
There are plenty of ways Jordan, or anyone else, could volunteer and right many of the wrongs pictured, but I don’t hear any calls for that. All I hear are whining and finger-pointing on this issue. No solutions other than the government kind which require more money the community simply doesn’t have.
Has anyone ever heard the expression that one freedom fighter is worth ten mercenaries? The same applies here. One passionate volunteer with a want to help out is worth 10 paid contractors hired by government to clean something up.
Says the guy who spends his entire life posting on here and nothing more.
I’d bet money you spend more time on here than me, just with 10 different usernames to disguise your activities. I’m one of the few with the balls to put my name to everything I say.
I would certainly agree with WTP that Linzy seems to have one heck of a job to be on here as much as he is. One would think that he would use that time to actually do something but instead he claims everyone else is finger pointing and whining? That is just simple amazing! It’s obvious that he, like West, has an agenda against certain people in this community regardless of what is going on.
Haha. What a load of nonsense. The ONLY two people on this post who use their full real names, one Democrat and one Republican, are accused of having a political agenda? Your conspiracy theory is surreal and flimsy as a Dali clock, my friend.
I think Mr. West’s response to this article was thoughtful, balanced and measured while much of the article itself and the responses to it have been thoughtless, cavalier, petty and ill-informed. That is my honest, non-political opinion on this matter. Don’t like it? Not really my problem.
AroundTheWorld (another no name person, how could anyone take offense at being told that their post is the worst post ever on the entire Internet (like you would be an expert or something). You really ought to take a real close look at that “goofy” hat of mine to realize that it is a tri-corn hat worn by our Colonial ancestors who fought in the American Revolution to give us Independence and a Constitution that allows you the right to say idiotic things! The picture you see was taken while I presented my “Flags Over America” program to a church group here in Evansville. The program is part of the Speakers Bureau of the Ohio Valley Chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution. The program is educational, historical, patriotic and entertaining. And whoever you are, I not only look at the 2 city cemeteries almost weekly, but I walk along the rows of grave markers. I am a volunteer for Find-A-Grave that locates graves, take photos and post them onto a national Internet site for someone that does not live close-by to see a family member’s grave marker. Do you do anything besides say childish things to grown-ups? Oh, your words “dispicable” and “deplorable” are in the dictionary… look them up to see what they really mean. Locust Hill Cemetery (the correct name)does not fit into the definition of either of those words. Go back to complaining about the stadium instead of putting down great historical cemeteries like Oak Hill & Locust Hill!
I’ve known John West for about 35 years. He may have interests, hobbies, and opinions that do not coincide with yours, mine, or Jordan Baer’s. However, that does not alter the facts. John West is one of the most sincere, honest, and hard working men I ever knew.
…and I’ve known both of you since the beginning of time and I also know why Evansville is on a downward spiral….One of you is known for lasting months at a cemetery, one of you is known for your nepotism… I never saw anything out of any of you to warrant coming on here and complaining about what the rest of us are trying to accomplish…
No one in your family could hold a candle to my wife when it comes to professional or people skills. And when was the West Side so sensitive to nepotism in politics anyway? That cracks me up!
Thanks, Bill for the support. I am honored that you would speak up for my character. I have noticed that Brad, you and I seem to not mind using our full names when we have an opinion, while people like 6thWardDemocrat claims to know Bill & I since the “beginning of time,” but is afraid to let us know who the westside Demo is. I have always felt that if you want to make cheap shots, you should have the courage to put your name on the comments. 6thWard, you & your comrads commenting here have shown that you really do not want to improve the condition of our city cemeteries, but rather make complaints about who is managing the cemeteries. If you wanted to improve the cemeteries, you would have met with the cemetery Superintendent and asked how you can help instead you went to the news media making insignificant complaints about some very old stones not being in a straight line. If you actually knew anything about these two beautiful, historic cemeteries, you would know that those grave markers have been out of line for many decades. Stop tearing down the cemetery and start building it up!
John, what happened here buddy? (http://local.evpl.org/views/viewimage.asp?ID=1120820)
Was that you or your dad?
Do your job before you attack others John…I remember our cemeteries in the 80s… They look just like today…
6thWardDemocrat, you should know who I am and know that for the most part I did my job both for the Democrat Party and for my jobs for the City… I was in charge of the Levee Authority for 6.5 years before I was appointed to work on improving the cemeteries maintenance. Today the city cemeteries look better than after my best efforts to improve them back in the late 1980’s. I am basically not attacking anyone, I am just pointing out that the cemetery critics are on a political campaign against certain people for political reasons and not because of their work. Funny, I am not afraid to use my real name, you would think a good Democrat from the 6th. Ward would have more courage… too bad my old friend, Dave “Happy Jack” Williams is not with us any longer. He would find out who you and “James T.” are. But, please keep attacking me instead of your intended targets, especially the cemeteries!
yada yada yada… I am now convinced you will never get it John… Don’t even bring up Dave!…
To 6WD… I will not “get it” because I do not have a vendetta against people in the Democrat party. It is kind of difficult to understand your willingness to hide behind a made up alias, if you are only interested in helping the cemeteries improve. What justifies your great desire to accomplish something for the cemeteries anyhow? If you have any guts, you would at least send me a private message to let me know your true name.
James, that was me… and what happened was that I did not have any staff and was promised an assistant manager… I did not get an assistant and I made my opinion known to the Mayor and he fired me. And I had done a great job in a short time of turning the cemeteries around before that happened of which I am very proud. I am not vindictive about the firing because I was working very hard 10-12 hours a day, 7 days a week. I truly love Oak Hill Cemetery. It had been under attack by the news media before I started for some needed maintenance. When I got on the job, the media began to report progress and the attacks ceased. I could easily be vindictive and join you – that are today’s in-experienced critics, but I feel that the cemeteries are actually in very good hands under Chris Cooke and even the last several Superintendents. It seems to me that many that have been criticising the cemetery actually have a political axe to grind with Chris Cooke and other political leaders in the city. And you are willing to dig up anything to try to make that happen. I guess you think that getting fired from a political job should discredit me. I think it shows that I stuck to my principles and wanted to continue making improvements to the cemeteries. Believe me I point out little items that I think need attention at the cemeteries, but I am not running to the media to say there are some limbs down after a storm and some 125+ year old stones that were not installed with a foundation has started leaning over the last 20 years are so! James T. are you my buddy?
Lloyd Winnecke and Carol McLintock were also at Locust Hill Cemetery on Veterans Day.
Another thing, what John G. West is not telling you is that he used to be in charge of Maintenance at the City Cemeteries. I believe it was in the 1980’s and/or 1990’s.
Thanks for pointing this out for me… I really did not want brag on myself! Actually, I was not in charge of maintenance as such… I was actually in charge of everything concerning the city cemeteries. Despite getting fired for political reasons, I had a great record for improving the cemeteries in about 3.5 months. I resolved numerous problems in a short time, of course, I had a lot of experience in management of people, equipment, resources and finances after being the Superintendent for 6.5 years at the Evansville/Vanderburgh Levee Authority that I left to help bolster the cemeteries’ appearance and lots of excessive growth of trees and bushes. With the Levee Authority’s crane, we lifted and repaired some 20-25 large grave markers that were knocked down by vandals. Vandalism has been a serious problem at both city cemeteries over its existence… now there is more lighting and a lot less vandalism occurring. Oh, here I go bragging… I am the only City Manager of the City Cemeteries of Locust Hill & Oak Hill. All others in its 150+ history were called Superintendents or Sextants. Of course that and $2 should be able to get you a cup of coffee almost anywhere! 🙂
Several months ago, my daughter and I was out in a creek over off of Mesker Park Dr. We came across a headstone that had a woman’s name, date of death, etc. Kind of strange. Several days went by and it kept bugging me, so I did some research and located a son of this woman. I took him to his mother’s headstone that was in this creek. He was shocked and could only come up with one story on how his mothers headstone got in this creek. To make a long story short, several years ago, they replaced his mothers headstone (after his father had passed)and the cementary was suppose to expose of the old headstone – Oak Hill Cementary! I’m still wondering how it got way over here..
I hope your post is all that is needed to convince the city, its Public Cemetery dept., and the Bureau of Public Works to remove the inscriptions before they use headstones to control bank erosion. A pneumatic chisel would make quick work of it.
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I’m sorry, but no offense to anyone’s mother, but I find this absolutely ridiculous. That extra work is not necessary. His mother had a new headstone, the old one was repurposed in a useful way. I see no cause for alarm on this anecdote. Heck, I’d consider it a tribute to my mother that perhaps one day far into the future, citizens of some civilization on the banks of what used to be called the “Ohio” might find a curious stone in a creek bed with her name on it and like some Greek or Egyptian ruin, her name will be remembered.
I’m sorry guys… But there are plenty of legitimate complaints we could spend time on here. This just isn’t anywhere NEAR the top of the list. Form a private club and do something about it if you’re that passionate about the cemeteries.
Brad, I am sure we do not agree on a lot of issues, but as the only two commentators that have the courage to use our actual names suggests that we have nothing to hide. Of course, now they are trying to dig-up my past to attempt to discredit me… always a strong sign that my arguments have merit. What these political new-comers do not know, I am proud of my past. Even getting “fired” was applauded by many of my associates for my willingness to stand-up to the mayor for what was right. If I was vindictive, I would fight against Democrats and I would be a strong critic against anyone in charge of the cemeteries regardless of their actual value. However, I have only praise for most of the work of each Superintendent since I was there. And I am very well known for being a loyal Democrat. And for most of you with your political agenda… I supported Rick Davis for Mayor when he ran.
I care more about ideas than I do about pedigrees.
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You have obviously never done any genealogical work. Things like this cropping up down the road cause untold problems for researchers. The regrettable part is that it is so easily avoided.
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How can too much information or a redundancy of information be a “problem for researchers”? That just doesn’t make much sense.
I’m really finding it difficult to follow some of the lines of reasoning in this debate. Maybe we should all just take a deep breath and a step back from this before someone has an aneurysm.
One thing for sure is that anyone doing genealogical research always uses their name. Finding a grave marker cropping up along the road says that this person has a grave somewhere in the area… if you did not already know. There is another thing that genealogists try to always do and that is avoid assuming something without facts (we call it documentation). How that grave marker ended up in the creek is unknown! But, not only was it placed in that creek to control soil erosion, but that it must have been done by cemetery personnel. Those kinds of speculations causes untold problems for researchers… I am thinking that “Pressanykey” obviously has done very little genealogical research and probably has been in very few older cemeteries like Evansville’s two oldest cemeteries.
” I am thinking that “Pressanykey†obviously has done very little genealogical research and probably has been in very few older cemeteries like Evansville’s two oldest cemeteries.”
* * * * * * * *
Your “thinking” is faulty again.
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I am from Washington Indiana and when I come down to Evansville and see the cemetery I am very disappointed in the way these cemetery’s look, not that any cemetery in Washington is better as we have the same problems. I have mowed around 17,000 headstones and i’ll be more than happy to do it again if it means the city will look better.
Why don’t the jail birds get out and do this work? A little fresh air and hard labor is good for criminals!
I have relatives buried in Oak Hill. I have been through recently and I did not see that much wrong that it caught my eye. Looked pruned well and mowed. Some rain run off areas my need some attention but then again so does my back yard now after a hard rain. Sure does seem like a few individuals have it out for Mr. Cooke.
I know John West. He is a friend of mine and a very honorable person with a very good heart. I happen to disagree with him on the condition of our Evansville cemeteries. They are in fact bad condition. The roads need to be repaired, tombstones are fallen over, grass is grown up and on and on. Look at Alexander’s, St. Joe and Sunset Memorial. These are well-maintained cemeteries. The city must do a better job in keeping these cemeteries in better condition.
Please don’t criticize John for the work he did when he ran the cemeteries. He did a good job. He was fired for making a comment of a negative nature to the Mayor’s wife. I’m sure he later regretted the comment, but he couldn’t take it back. In those days, you could be fired because you served at the pleasure of the Mayor.
Waldo, Not sure how recently you’ve been to Alexander’s. They’re headed in the direction of Oak Hill quick. Have plenty of family there so it’s a semi-regular trek w/ parents for me. Grass doesn’t get mowed & looks TERRIBLE on holiday weekends that it should be looking it’s best. I’ve walked through grass that was well past ankle deep in there.
Definitely need some funding & PROPER USE of funds to rehab our city’s cemetaries. It is a sad situation that these have fallen to this kind of disrepair. You can go to the older part of Tupman Cemetary & although there are certainly some markers showing their age, they aren’t as in deplorable repair as these. St Joseph cemetaires (city & county) are also in MUCH better shape–yes, even the very old markers. Obviously some need some attention and that is to be expected–there is only so much time in one day and money given in a budget. But they are in much better shape than the city cemetaries.
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