Families frustrated about abandoned cemetery where loved ones buried

CENTRALIA, Wash. -- Families around Centralia are upset that a local cemetery is abandoned.

At Greenwood Memorial Park, no one is caring for the final resting place of locals and veterans dating back to the Spanish-American War.

“It’s horrible,” said Larry Vandervort, who has four generations of family members buried there. “I mean it’s terrible. The grass is up high, there’s limbs all over the driveways and chuckholes.”

The Vandervorts and other families mowed the grass, and cleaned up the cemetery as best they could over the Memorial Day weekend, but there are still open crypts, collapsing storage sheds, and the grave stones of World War II vets ripped out of the ground and stacked in a corner.

That’s because there is no one to care for it. According to the State Department of Licensing, the people in charge of the cemetery ran into legal issues years ago and walked away. The cemetery is no longer licensed, and  now the State Cemetery Board considers it abandoned.

“It really is a sad situation,” said Rep. Ed Orcutt, R-Kalama.

Orcutt has put together a working group of legislators to come up with a solution for Greenwood and other private cemeteries that may become abandoned. He wants to make sure that if someone has a plot reserved, that they’ll still be buried there when they pass away.

“We’ll see if there are things we need to do differently legislatively,” said Orcutt. “This is something that never crossed my mind but it’s an issue that has come up, and has a real effect on real people.”