Monroe Dispatch - No Struggle, No Progress

Many people are buried in Richwood Memorial Garden Cemetery in Richwood, LA. Many families have entrusted the management of the cemetery to be there in their time of need and grief. The grounds are well kept, as family members often visit the final resting place of their loved ones. Still, over the years, there have been some unpleasant memories experienced by family members concerning the manner in which management at the cemetery has conducted themselves. Shirley Greer says she is angry at the management of the cemetery over missing information on the headstone that is placed at her parents' graves. Greer said many family members, including her father and mother, are buried at Richwood. She said that her family members had been buried there since 1987. Her father, George Taylor, passed away in 2020, Greer says, at which time arrangements were made for her father and mother to be buried side-by-side. There would be one headstone placed in front of the graves with the date(both) of birth and death on the headstone. Since the father had already passed, the only thing left would be to place the year of death for when her mother, Ethel Mae Taylor, would pass, as her date of birth was already on the headstone. Greer said that it was her understanding that when the papers were signed, signifying that "everything was paid in full" she thought nothing else needed to be done. Ethel Mae Taylor passed in 2020 and was buried next to her husband. Greer said that back in April 2023, while visiting the graves of her family members(she lives out of town), she was shocked to see that the year of her mother's passing was not on the headstone. She was confused about why the year "2020" was not on the headstone and asked a manager called "Keith" why the year was missing. Greer said that Keith told her it would cost $185 to place the rest(year) of the information on the headstone, even though it will be three years on August 19, 2020, since her mother died. Greer said she was never given a reason why the year wasn't put on the headstone soon after her passing. Greer said she would even have "allowed" some time for COVID to pass. She said that "Keith" was very disrespectful and arrogant, going so far as to allegedly sarcastically say that "people need to stop dying". Greer asked whether an order for the year lettering had been made for the headstone and wasn't satisfied with the answer. She said she called the company, gave the necessary information, and was told that no order was placed in her family's name. Greer said that she was even more angry with management, believing that if the year lettering was going to be extra, the family should have been told years ago. She also believes that the $185.00 she paid seems like double-dipping if everything was "paid in full". Greer said it is difficult to reach anyone at Richwood as phone calls go unanswered. The family wants Richwood Gardens to honor the signed contract; two years is a long time to wait for the headstone to be completed. Greer believes her mother's memory is being tarnished and disrespected because she is sure the other headstones are engraved just as the families wanted them to be. She only wants the same thing for her mother so her family can be at peace. She said she will be back next month for her mom's birthday to see if they put 2020 on her mom's headstone.