Major Bend cemetery modifications include strain to grief, people say

Major BEND, Wis. – For much more than a 10 years, Mary Pedersen has visited her 11-year-outdated son, Evan, at Rural Residence Cemetery — sharing memories, celebrating birthdays and discovering solace in the distinctive location.

It is commonly a put that delivers comfort and ease to mourners, but alterations to the Major Bend cemetery are producing worry. Beloved kinds of the deceased are upset following they say new policies are having in the way of grieving.

“There is far more to here than just the headstone,” said Pedersen.

Every 7 days, Pedersen will come out, cleans up the gravesite, crops flowers and decorates her child’s resting spot. He died in a tragic accident at university.

“This is the place my son is buried, and this is where by we arrive for peace and grieving,” Pedersen reported.

Quickly, that could all transform with new policies at the cemetery. Occur May well 1, memorials and flowers will no for a longer time be allowed. That suggests the bench, ideas and decorations will need to go.

“I just just can’t wrap my head all-around this. It’s coldhearted,” explained Pedersen.

Pedersen and many others discovered out about the improvements from signals posted at the gravesite.

“We have no notification, we have no enter into what’s staying stated, it is pretty challenging,” said Travis Payne, whose son is also buried at Rural Home.

Payne and his wife, Debbie, misplaced their son in an accident in 1998. They have celebrated holiday seasons and birthdays at the cemetery and even watched their decorations improve.

“They were just little very little pine trees at the time and he handed absent in 1998, so they’ve grown rather tall,” claimed Debbie Payne.

The families are asking the village Cemetery Board to rethink, so the web site can continue on to be a location of consolation and continue on to assistance them recover.

“Permit us to retain what we have and what we have been promised,” Pedersen explained.

Individuals are staying authorized to position decorations on a shepherd’s hook at their cherished one’s headstones. 

FOX6 News attained out to the village and public is effective continuously and did not listen to back.

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