MEMPHIS, Tenn. — From Horn Lake Road, the manicured grounds make New Park Cemetery the ideal place to bury your loved one.
“It just didn’t look presentable,” said Ladonna Webb.
She said looks can be deceiving.
In the far back of the cemetery things were far different.
“The front close to the gate where you can see it from the street makes the cemetery look nice, but the further back you get, it looks terrible,” said Webb.
Webb’s family buried her brother here in September.
When they visited the grave early this week, they were shocked.
“This Tuesday, my brother’s grave site looked terrible. Looked like he was on top of the ground, water everywhere. His headstone was unleveled,” she said.
Webb said she tried to talk to the cemetery about the situation.
Then she called WREG.
When we met her at the burial site, workers quickly started filling in the dirt, telling us this aws not unusual.
They said anytime it rains, the new graves turn into muddy messes, especially in this back section where the discounted graves were located.
“When the season changes the ground gets hardened back up. It hardens back up. See all this is loose,” said Calvin Taylor, who works the grounds at the cemetery.
New Park Cemetery owners said they were not aware of Webb’s complaints and work to satisfy all families.
They said with the rainy weather and the number of funerals held every week, the ground will get messy, but they fill it in as soon as possible.
Webb said she hopes so.
“My family is here. They should just do better by this cemetery. It looks awful,” said Webb.
We talked to the owners of New Park Cemetery.
They said they are willing to work with the Webb family and are committed to satisfying all their customers.
