KIRKSVILLE, MO. -- Instead of working on city streets or water lines, some employees from the Kirksville Public Works Department serve as cemetery caretakers.
As we told you earlier this year, the city took over care of the historic Forest-Llewellyn Cemetery last fall.
Since spring, it appears the city crews, armed with new weed trimmers and a couple of new riding lawnmowers, are keeping the cemetery in tip-top shape.
City Manager Mari Macomber told KTVO that she and a couple of other city employees have a passion for making sure Forest-Llewellyn Cemetery looks nice.
"My thought is, 'If your cemetery looks good, it reflects well on the whole city,'” said Macomber. “I mean, 'Yes, we want to take care of our children, take care of existing citizens, but you (have to) take care of the people who came before you.'"
City crews don't just mow and trim around headstones.
They also trim trees, repair tombstones and clear brush.
With its sheer size, steep hills and number of headstones, Macomber says it's a big job keeping up this cemetery.
“It's a process to get that cemetery done, but the council allocated the funds to get the right equipment, we have the staff allocated out there, and I hope the citizens are seeing the maintenance on the cemetery has improved."
Some full-time city employees do the work with the help of two part-time workers.
The city took over the job after the previous contractor was unable to keep up with the massive mowing job.
Previous KTVO story on this topic:
City crews become cemetery caretakers
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