Kenosha cemetery gravesite items tossed, woman looking for owners
KENOSHA, Wis. - At St. George Cemetery in Kenosha, some items lost are still not found after gravesite memorabilia was discarded without families' knowledge last week.
After Michelle Bain lost her 17-year-old son, Jaedon, she could find peace in the pieces that honored him at his grave.
"You have all these pops of color throughout showcasing the different people’s personalities," Bain said.
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Now, Bain said, all that life has been lost: "It’s kind of removed all those personal touches, which is sad."
Artificial items are no longer allowed at the cemetery; St. George Church threw them all away, including flags. Flowers were removed, too – including perennials that one 87-year-old widow said she planted as long ago as 1983.
Items discarded at St. George Cemetery in Kenosha
Downtown Kenosha Catholic, which operates the cemetery, posted a notice in an online bulletin. However, many people, like Bain, who has five loved ones resting at St. George, said they never knew a thing about it.
"I think about my son. I think about my dad, especially, being a veteran, he’s just – you know the saying, rolling over in your grave – with everything going on here," Bain said.
Where there was a pile of discarded items from gravestones near a dumpster, there is now emptiness. But not all items are gone for good. After so much loss piled up, Bain focused on what she could find.
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"We just took the things out that scream ‘I belong to somebody,'" she said.
On Nov. 6, the Sunday after the items were tossed, Bain and about a dozen others spent five hours looking through things. She couldn't find the items that honored Jaedon.
"That’s like finding a needle in the haystack," she said.
Items discarded at St. George Cemetery in Kenosha
However, Bain did recover other things with just as much meaning that she hopes to return. That includes a drawing of a pig, decorated rocks, and personalized dog tags.
In doing this, she said she has found a way to keep her son's personality alive.
"The best way to share his legacy is just to be kind to others, bottom line, because that’s one thing that people said universally about him," said Bain.
Bain is happy to report that she's already found the owner of one of the items she posted on social media and returned it. The cemetery told FOX6 News it is not commenting on this story at this time.
If you recognize any of the items in this story, email madalyn.oneill@fox.com.
Editor's note: Father Sean Granger emailed FOX6 News back after the original story on this first aired, saying that the rules had been posted on signs throughout the cemetery since before Memorial Day, and the full list of regulations were posted online since April.
"Both the signs and website state that violations will be discarded, which is not a happy nor fun process for anyone involved, since these objects, though violations to cemetery regulations, have sentimental meaning to families," Granger wrote.
"We left the signs up and information on our website for several months before enforcing the regulations, hoping that people would remove their own items over the summer if they wanted to keep them."
Granger also wrote that the regulations exist to prevent littering and items from harming wildlife, reduce disagreements between families about what’s considered appropriate at a Catholic cemetery, and landscaping workers from potential hazards.