CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — A local man is raising concern over Rosehill Memorial Park Cemetery as he claims parts of the property are not being kept up and maintained. He says he wants the city to take over and begin regulating the maintenance of the premises, especially the perimeter fence.
The cemetery is the resting place for thousands of loved ones. That includes the family of John Hendricks. His parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents were laid to rest there. However, lately, Hendricks says he's noticed what he calls an 'eye sore.'
"I always love coming to Rosehill because it's so beautiful and scenic and one day I was driving out towards the edges and I realized that not everybody has a real pretty place here," Hendricks said.
During Tuesday's council meeting, Hendricks told city leaders the property's fencing is too close to the street and even closer to some of the graves.
"Along the edges, there's a very ugly fence," Hendricks said, "All the people who come out here on Sundays, they have to pray right next to the traffic. It's just an ugly scene of what almost looks like an abandoned property."
But that's not it. Hendricks also claims the grass is uneven at the cemetery, which holds more than 100 unidentified victims of the 1919 hurricane. Only a memorial rock is placed near the fence, which he says isn't as appealing as it could be.
"As I've studied it, I discovered that it's actually according to Texas state law that it's the city's responsibility to regulate the cemetery."
Rosehill's property manager tells us the fence is in the hands of Wights Collision Repair. We reached out to them several times, but they did not accept our attempts to speak.
As for Hendricks, he says he wants accountability from both entities to make sure these issues get fixed, so visitors can focus more on spending those special moments with their loved ones.
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