HAINES CITY, Fla. — Haines City Clerk Linda Bourgeois wants owners of unused cemetery spaces in Forest Hill to come forward if they bought the plots before 1968.
- Cemetery plots are considered abandoned if not verified with a current address
- Applicants will have to prove they're related to claim a plot
- Residents have until the end of November to claim plots
- More Polk County headlines
The city is attempting to update the address of owners and verify the families still plan to use the plots.
The public notice was good news for Mary Hamilton and her family. She had no idea where her step grandfather was buried, or that he had several unused cemetery spaces in his name. She went to the cemetery and was escorted to his grave site.
“This is really nice to know we got a place to come out,” said Mary Hamilton, tearing up while looking at her step grandfather’s grave.
Hamilton, 74, of Davenport, said her sister put the plots in her name and they plan to use them for the rest of the family. It was good news for Hamilton as she had no idea where she’d be buried one day.
“I thought, 'Just throw me out in the water, let me go. It don’t matter I’m just going to go back to dust anyway,'" said Hamilton, chuckling while acknowledging being buried in a cemetery was a much better option.
Bourgeois released a public notice on July 2 alerting the public there were 365 spaces that would be considered abandoned if someone didn’t claim them.
“The deed holder or the owner of record may or may not be alive. We’re trying to find those families. We want them to come and let us know this might be a relative of theirs,” explained Bourgeois.
The cemetery spaces in question were bought prior to 1968.
“About 50 people have called and of those 50 people, we were able to put 60 spaces back into the relatives’ hands,” said Bourgeois.
The plots are considered abandoned if the owner hasn’t provided the city with a current address in the past 50 years.
Bourgeois said people have until the end of November to claim these plots. After that they’ll be returned to the city’s inventory. Bourgeois said people can still come forward after that deadline but they may not be able to get the original plot their relative owned.
In order to claim the cemetery plots, the applicant will have to prove they're related to the person on record as the deed owner of the cemetery spaces.
The city clerk said the applicant can provide proof through a birth or death certificate or obituary listing their name as a relative. They’ll also have to sign an agreement saying they are transferring the plots into their name and pay a $50 filing fee.