Families frustrated with lack of care at local cemetery

A Munhall cemetery has become an eyesore for several people who have their loved ones buried there.

When they come to visit Homestead Cemetery, it’s like they are walking through a jungle.

“Oh, terrible. In some cases, you don’t even know if there’s tombstones here or not,” said neighbor David Hahner.

RELATED STORY: Help needed for Homestead cemetery

The grass is too high and Channel 11 found some of the headstones are knocked over. That hits home for Kathy Hahner – most of her family is buried there.

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“It’s very personal to me, and if I get real emotional, I’ll start crying,” she said.

Channel 11 talked to Mayor Rick Brennan about why the cemetery is in this condition.

"The board that ran the cemetery here for years, it went defunct," he said. "It went into bankruptcy. Unbeknown to us, they did not file taxes for several years."

RELATED STORY: Documents show Homestead Cemetery filed bankruptcy over less than $10K in debts

Now Brennan, who took office in January, is focusing on getting the cemetery back into shape.

"It's been sitting here since 2015 or 2016. No one did anything, no one wanted to do anything, and finally I said, 'Enough is enough, I'm going to do something,'" he said.

Brennan formed a cemetery board that aims to get the care for this cemetery back on track. It’s the first cemetery board in more than three years.

He tells Channel 11 he cuts the grass as much as he can. Several neighbors do too.

“This is a historical cemetery. Most people who have been buried over there are the people that settled this area,” Kathy Hahner said.

Cox Media Group