TAYLOR COUNTY, Ky. (LEX 18) — A Taylor County family is confronting a problem they reportedly have been dealing with for over ten years regarding their parents' gravesites at Brookside Cemetery in Campbellsville.
Richie Taylor, who buried his father a decade ago and his mother a year later, is looking for a lasting solution to the ongoing issues affecting their resting places.
"It's a mess," Richie Taylor stated, describing the state of the gravesite. "There's another tombstone that they've hit with a lawn mower, knocked it sideways."
The family has been dealing with a persistent drainage problem that they said is damaging their parents' graves.
"I come over here, and I don't want to face this every year. This is my parents. I know their souls are not here, but this is the resting place for their body," Taylor shared.
Richie recalled an incident from several years ago when he discovered water running in the grave.
"I took a shovel and shoved it all the way in the ground. I fell in the hole one time and was standing on top of the vault," he explained.
In February 2019, LEX 18 visited the cemetery, where Richie highlighted the issues surrounding the gravesite, including a buried drainage tile and unclear easements concerning cemetery boundaries.
"There's a tile that runs under these graves, but at the courthouse, there's a 50-foot easement from Main Street to Broadway that says there's never supposed to be a grave here," he noted.
Despite the family's attempts to fix the situation on their own, including purchasing dirt to fill in a hole and repositioning headstones, Richie indicated that these fixes have only provided temporary relief.
"It's just an ongoing issue," expressed Richie. "I just want to get my mom put back where she belongs, get the hole fixed, and quit having to relive this every year."
Taylor emphasized his frustration and weariness with the ongoing situation, hoping for a resolution that would allow him to visit his parents' graves without added distress. "I'm just sick and tired of it. I just want it fixed. That's all I ask."
The Brookside Cemetery Association has been contacted for comment regarding the family's ongoing concerns but has declined to provide a statement at this time. Richie continues to hope for a solution that brings him peace and honors the memory of his parents.
