Tree branches, pipe fittings and a construction cone sit in one of the open grave plots at Greenwood Memorial Park in Centralia in this Chronicle file photo from 2014.
Families who have had difficulties burying loved ones at Greenwood Memorial Park in Centralia and other abandoned cemeteries across the state will be getting some relief.
A new law championed by 20th Legislative District lawmakers Richard DeBolt, R-Chehalis, and Ed Orcutt, R-Kalama, was signed into law by Gov. Jay Inslee Friday.
The legislation protects ownership of previously protected burial plots at cemeteries considered abandoned by the state. It applies to Greenwood Memorial Park, where legal troubles for former sexton John Baker and others have left the property without management or record-keeping.
House Bill 1907 received unanimous support in the House and Senate.
“This has been a terrible obstacle for many families in our area,” Orcutt said. “It’s essentially a property rights issue, and mourning families should not have to worry about keeping mothers and fathers together when it comes to making final arrangements. I’m happy we could resolve this and protect others from similar experiences in the future.”
The issue was brought to Orcutt by Lewis County resident Debbie Campbell, one of many individuals from families that long ago purchased plots before the cemetery became abandoned. She feared her terminally ill mother, who later died, would not be allowed to be buried next to her father at Greenwood Memorial Park.
She had to go through a stringent three-part process that included getting Baker’s approval before she was ultimately provided permission to bury her mother in the memorial park.
The papers were signed the same day as Campbell’s mother died.
“I very clearly remember leaning over to my mom and saying ‘It’s OK, you’re going to be next to Dad,’ and off she went to heaven,” Campbell aid.
Campbell testified in support of the bill at the Senate hearing on March 29 as a private citizen.
House Bill 1907 also expands the definition of a cemetery to include burial parks, mausoleums, and columbariums. It also specifies requirements for the proper transfer of records, including maps and other associated documents, to the Washington state archives when a cemetery no longer has an official owner.
The new law will take effect later this year.
