Grandview Cemetery Association

Review: On September 10th, 2008, my son ([redacted]) was tragically killed in a motorcycle accident. As one can imagine, my ex husband and I were not prepared for his untimely death and did not have any burial arrangements made prior to his untimely death at the age of 24. My mother in law is buried at the cemetery of which I am writing about, and so we sought to bury our son there as well. Since he was a veteran, we wanted him close to the veteran's area, but because one cannot have an upright stone in the veteran's area, we bought four lots in the adjacent lot K where we were told that we would be able to have an upright head tombstone. There never was any mention of specific size or style, etc. We were sold what we thought were lots along the back of the K area. We didn't know there were lots behind ours because upright headstones only appear along the back of the lot. There are only flat ground stones in the fore front. Since we were told we could have an upright, our belief was that we had the last lots along the back.

The guy that hit my son head on had very little insurance and so we did not get too much in settlement. After funeral expenses, we went with one of the cemetery personnel, a woman named [redacted] (who was supposed to be a grief counselor as well as sales lady). She took us in her car to point out the various types of headstones that we might think about. When we sat down to talk price, she quoted something like $9,000.00!! She told us we could not put up a single sized stone because the policy of the cemetery is it has to be a double sized stone if it is an upright!! I have yet to see anything in writing!! After much angst, my ex, [redacted] and I decided to look elsewhere. We made an initial down payment at [redacted]. in [redacted]. When [redacted] told the person at Grandview that we were getting a tombstone from [redacted], they told him that we would have to purchase the lots behind our son's grave for an additional sum of money. The reason they gave him was that with an upright stone, no one could be buried there. My ex told them we didn't even know there were lots there and that they knew we wanted to put an upright stone there. Why were they all of a sudden making us purchase land? I'm on disability, I went into deep depression with his death and am taking things day by day, trying to get my life back. My income is limited. We don't have a ton of extra money to just hand to them for no reason. I talked with my lawyer a short time later and he said that it was nonsense. He said the tombstone goes at the head of the lot and should not interfere, even if there is a lot behind it. He also said we have nothing binding us to purchase the land or to buy a double stone.

It's going to be 5 years, I would like to have some closure to my son's internment. I went to the office the other day and spoke to a woman named [redacted]. She told me that the reason we are being made to buy the two lots behind my son (which we didn't know existed) is because in order to put the stone up, the workers must firs dig a hole three feet deep and insert a concrete footer which goes below the frost line. Then, the base and the tombstone is secured to the footer. She said because the footer is in so deep, anyone who would buy the lots behind my son could only be cremated because they couldn't get a backhoe in to dig a hole and put a burial vault in!! I am at wits end. Everyone I talk to thinks this is atrocious. If there's there no room, then why are they considered lots? And why were we told we could put a tombstone up? And why were we not told that it had to be a double stone? I want to put his veteran's plaque at the foot. Are they going to give me problems there?

I don't see why we should have to pay for their shortcomings and misleadings. All they want is a buck. And they get you when you're most vulnerable. [redacted] said to me that she'd give me a discount on the lots behind my son's grave. $999.00 for one, with taxes it will come to almost $2500.00! And then on top of that she says, "I'd encourage at least one of you to buy a pre burial vault". My son served his country, was a talented musician, was a very giving, spiritual young man who showed nothing but love and kindness while he lived. He had over 1000 people at his funeral. They didn't know where to park the cars! A scholarship is being developed in his name at [redacted]. to allow his philantrophy to go on. And we are left with this angst.

Here are a few more things you should know about this evil company-

They want all this money, but they do nothing to make things nice. I had to plant my own grass because their workers ruined the grass by cutting it too close two summers ago and the sun burned it. Then after I had beautiful grass, they buried someone next to our lots and threw the dirt on top of our lots and all the weeds and clover and stuff which I painstakingly got rid of started to grow again on our lots!! When I told them about it, they did nothing. The workers who supposedly give perpetual care knock over ornaments and flowers, cover everything with grass clippings, never clean off any of the stones. They have no respect. There are flags on people who were not veterans (some were babies), There are flags with no holders, or worse yet, broken holders. They have no memorial or veteran day services. There are people buried there who served in the French-American War! The roads are terrible, they're all cracked and broken, full of big ruts and potholes. I know they have money, They a part of [redacted] for heaven's sake. I am not the only one to complain. When I visit my son, I hear others, but they have given up. It falls on deaf ears.Desired Settlement: Allow we, [redacted] and [redacted], to put an upright stone on my son's grave without the purchase of the property behind it. We already have four lots. Allow us to put a single stone on the site since it was never shown to us in writing.

For all deed holders and those buried or who have loved ones interred therein:

From here on in, any new policies are to be given via notification, notarized, signed by both the company and the deed holder and kept on file.

Respect shall be given toward the burial site and grass shall be kept neatly trimmed, weeded, stones free of clippings, and repairs made to the road.