AVON, Ohio — Family members of people buried at Rest Haven Cemetery in Avon placed signs around the cemetery in protest Sunday, expressing their frustrations over flooding issues that have muddied and submerged loved ones gravestones.
Dozens of headstones lie underwater at the cemetery because of flooding issues on the property, while others are nearly swallowed by the unstable ground.
The Facebook group “Rescuing Rest Haven Cemetery”, which has more than 1,200 members, organized the protest, but say it was shut down by security they say were hired by Stonemor, the owner of the cemetery.
Still, dozens of people showed to place signs around the cemetery, which is in response to a two year plus battle between concerned relatives and Stonemor to get the problems fixed.
Some of the messages written on the signs said “Past Lives Matter”, “Our Families Deserve Better” and “Angels Can’t Fly Submerged in Water” before they were removed by who concerned relatives believed were a groundskeeper who worked for Rest haven.
Michelle Gehring visited her parents grave sites Sunday at Rest Haven. She brought cleaning supplies to clean off the dirt and water that’s engulfed their headstones.
She says it’s heartbreaking.
“I should not have to come out here and clean my parents headstones. It was hard enough when I buried them,” she said.
Gehring says there’s drainage issues on the property. She believes the owner of the cemetery should have some “integrity” and fix it soon. Gehring says it’s already been too long.
"To come out here and see this. It's very emotionally upsetting,” she said.
We reached out to Stonemor to get an update on how they were going to fix the issues, but we were unable to reach the company.
They sent us a statement in April when we first aired the story.
"Resthaven Memory Gardens' mission is to help families memorialize every life with dignity, including providing and maintaining a tranquil and beautiful place for memorialization. In consultation with engineering professionals, we are working on the details of an action plan to remedy flooding and related issues. When completed, we will make available an outline of the plan at the cemetery office. In the meantime, we want to reassure our families and the local community that we are committed to serving them and their loved ones."
An engineering firm is looking into what is the exact reason why the cemetery continues to flood. Also, the Ohio Cemetery Dispute Resolution Commission because of complaints made by concerned relatives has recommended Stonemor address the issues and come up with a plan to fix them. The plan is expected to be presented at their next meeting June 13th.