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Mathis Family Upset With Mathis Cemetery Over Soldier Statue
Posted: Jun 12, 2011 10:16 PM by Mitch Bryan - mbryan@kristv.com
Updated: Jun 13, 2011 1:51 PM
MATHIS - One Mathis family says the cemetery their loved is buried in is forcing them to take down a statue that has stood at the grave for nearly 7 years. The family says the statue honors their loved ones time in the military, but cemetery officials say the stone figure is against the rules.
Here at the number 2 Descanso Eterno Cemetery, in a small plot near the gate, a statue once stood over the grave of Usbaldo Alvarado.
After losing his battle against cancer in 2004, his family buried him here and placed a statue over their loved one in an eternal salute. But now, that statue is gone.
Family Member, Michael McDonough said, "She posted in the paper that the statue had to go. That anybody that had large items like that had to leave because it didn't meet the standards of the cemetery."
The deceased's family is upset after they were told the statue didn't fit regional regulations and had to go.
"You can look around and see that people have been putting all kinds of stuff up and there's never been a problem with it before. Now all of a sudden it's a problem, I don't understand it," said McDonough.
We spoke to Colores Garcia who took over the cemetery a year ago, and she explained that she's been busy correcting violations her predecessor left behind.
"I'm just kind of curious if she's ever heard of anything called a grandfather clause. I can understand enforcing the rules with the people coming in now, but if it's already been here for a few years, you need to leave that alone and respect the family's wishes," said McDonough.
Garcia told us that the woman who formerly ran the cemetery had let families slide when it came to many of the rules of the graveyard. Still, this family isn't pleased.
"These guys, they served their time in defending the country and the to have somebody come up and say we can't have anything to honor them, well, that's kind of disrespectful to us."
Now the statue in the back of a family pickup truck until the matter can be settled.
Garcia says she'd be happy to consider the statue's return if the family is willing to place it in another cemetery with a designated military section. Until then, this soldier's salute will go unnoticed.
We're told the cemetery's president, Colores Garcia is seeking help from the county attorney in handling further changes that need to be made to the graveyard.
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