CENTRALIA, Wash. — Marveen Rohr helped change state law and secured state funding to clean and preserve the estimated 2,000 gravesites at Greenwood Cemetery, where her parents and grandparents are buried.
But after three years of clearing weeds and accessing cemetery records, volunteers have identified more than 7,000 gravesites at the Centralia property, some marking the remains of men who fought in the Civil War.
"That's when we started to understand that we are sitting on a history lesson... It kinda takes you on this trip, you know what I mean? We're talking about when Abraham Lincoln was president," Rohr said.
"I think this was probably a lost battalion so to speak," said Ed Day.
The original owners of Greenwood abandoned the property in 2007 and for more than a decade, due to state law, family members of those buried on the property risked trespassing charges if they visited their loved ones.
As a result, weeds and moss overtook many of the tombstones.
In 2019 Rohr helped change state laws regarding abandoned cemeteries and helped the City of Centralia get nearly $500,000 in grant funding to pay for the cleanup.
“This is the kind of work we should be doing as a community, together,” said Rohr.
Restoring all of the gravesites may require more state funding. Volunteers are planning to rededicate the cemetery on Saturday, just in time for Memorial Day.
Day, a Marine, who fought in the Vietnam War, spent Thursday placing flags at fellow veterans' gravesites, including some that were recently identified.
“They just need a little respect,” said Day.