Owner says repairs are coming
Families want remembrance services to be peaceful, memorable occasions as they say goodbye to loved ones and they say that is becoming more difficult at one area cemetery. They say the condition of roads inside the cemetery are taking away from the final ceremonies for their loved ones.
Andrew Slaughter has relatives buried at Devotional Gardens cemetery on Fairground Road outside Dunn. He has been attempting to address issues with conditions at the cemetery for more than a year.
Specifically, he wants roadways repaired allowing better access to graves sites.
Mr. Slaughter has deep family connections to the cemetery and still has family members living nearby.
Mr. Slaughter said his mother, grandfather and several cousins are buried in Devotional Gardens.
His great-grandfather is a former caretaker of the facility.
Mr. Slaughter said attempts to make minor repairs to potholes and other areas of the road have not fixed the problem.
“They are unrepairable without tearing them up,” Mr. Slaughter said. “They keep putting more cement down but they need to replace the whole thing. It is worse now than it has ever been.”
Mr. Slaughter said he has concerns for all the people using the cemetery.
“I think about families when they have lost a loved one like I have,” Mr. Slaughter said. “You don’t want people in caskets to be bouncing around on the way to their resting place.”
Mr. Slaughter said other parts of the facility are kept up to standards.
“They mow the grass and they keep other parts of it up but they need to fix the roads,”Mr. Slaughter said.
Mr. Slaughter said he has complained to the owners several times about the condition of the facility.
That includes current owner Lenual Primus, who has owned the facility for two years. Mr. Primus said he agrees the repairs are needed and is working to make it happen.
“I want to respect all the people who are there,” Mr. Primus said. “I am going to be here and I hope to get his issue resolved in the next year.”
Mr. Primus, who lives in Garner, said he started making repairs as soon as he bought the facility.
“The things we could do right away, we did,” Mr. Primus said. “The weeds and the grass were terrible and we already began addressing those issues. There is more cost to repair the roads so that takes longer.”
Mr. Primus said he hired landscapers to remove weeds, improve grassy areas and to trim hedges.
He said he is proceeding on a schedule that will include getting roads.
“We had to secure money before we can do the paving but we are going to address it,” Mr. Primus said. “My heart is in the right place relating to this but it just takes a while to address these things. The people deserve to have a peaceful resting place for their family members.”
-Dunn Daily Record
