PLAINS TOWNSHIP, LUZERNE COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU) — Can an abandoned, deteriorating cemetery and mausoleum in Luzerne County be salvaged, giving hope to families who have loved ones interred at that cemetery? The short answer is: yes.
It's all because a local non-profit group saw our I-Team reports on the Good Shepherd Cemetery in Plains Township and reached out to us.
Families connected to the Good Shepherd Cemetery tell 28/22 News they had pretty much given up hope that the cemetery could be salvaged, until now.
"When you saw our story, what did you think when you saw our story on Good Shepherd?" 28/22 News I-Team Reporter Andy Mehalshick said.
"First of all it sounded so familiar because that's what this cemetery went through," said Friends of Shady Lane Cemetery President Carol Wilkerson.
28/22 News met Wilkerson at the cemetery in South Abington Township, Lackawanna County.
"We have no ownership. Someone who bought it at a tax sale and walked away from it. The property was abandoned. The property was in terrible shape," Wilkerson explained.
These are photos of what it looked like when the nonprofit stepped in. Wilkerson says they knew they had to do something.
She knows that families connected to the Good Shepherd Cemetery are living a nightmare.
Just last week, a family removed the remains of loved ones from the crumbling mausoleum that was interred in the 1990s. Dozens of remains are still in the mausoleum.
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"What I really wanted to do is share ideas that have helped us transform this into a well-kept beautiful community asset instead of a dangerous eyesore," Wilkerson stated.
She says the community can help them.
"If they form a nonprofit organization they can raise money to take care of the cemetery..they can rally volunteers," Wilkerson continued.
Willard Phillips has family buried at Shady Lane Cemetery.
"I think what these volunteers have done is just terrific because it was in such disarray..this whole cemetery..what they've done the past three years is just fantastic," Phillips said.
A family connected to the Good Shepherd Cemetery reached out to the I-Team for contact information for the nonprofit group.
28/22 News will continue to work this story.
To learn more about the group that is helping out, visit Friends of Shady Lane Cemetery's website.
