BEAUMONT, Texas — The Live Oak Memorial Park has replaced a man's damaged headstone after his grieving widow said seeing it felt like the funeral home, "threw him away."
In addition to replacing the headstone and slab, the funeral home also put new flowers on the grave site.
The headstone was probably moved out the way to do a funeral, but it is unknown how it fell over, officials from the funeral home said.
"We should have picked it up when we found out about it but it was missed," Eben Louvier, general manager, said. "It was a terrible oversight on our part. She definitely got our attention last night. When we saw that, we apologized to her and got her all fixed up."
Kristin Bob, the widow, said the funeral home invited her to come out to see if the gravesite is up to her satisfaction, and she planned on going to the site Tuesday, July 6.
Kristin Bob said her husband's damaged gravesite opened fresh wounds.
Kristin Bob’s husband, Elijah Bob, died almost six years ago.
Elijah Bob is buried at the Live Oak Memorial Park on West Port Arthur Road, in Beaumont, Texas.
Kristin Bob first noticed the damaged headstone weeks ago.
“This is a part of our legacy now,” she said. “Whether we like it or not, this is the place where we come to remember.”
A routine visit to the gravesite turned into an unforgettable event, for all the wrong reasons.
“I lost it,” Kristin Bob said. “I lost it. So much so that when we got ready to leave, I could not even remember how to get of Beaumont. I could not get out fast enough,”
The knocked down headstone, overgrown grass and misplaced dirt overshadowed the memory of her husband, she said.
The most disheartening issue was the lack of communication from the cemetery, Kristin Bob said.
“I do not know what happened,” she said. “ But, I know they are responsible.”
For weeks, the family had been searching for answers.
“It just feels like they threw him away just because they will not respond,” she said. “I just need them to fix it. I need to know what is going on and what happened. Why is his dirt removed? Is he even still there? I have so many questions.”
On Monday, the cemetery contacted 12news and said in part that they are backed up with work orders due to the weather and an influx of funeral services because of coronavirus related deaths.
“I know he is not in there,” Kristin Bob said.
November of 2021 will mark six years since Elijah Bob died, but the recent damage to his gravesite has brought back the grief and despair the family felt.