MACOMB TOWNSHIP, Mich. – When Macomb Township resident Jerry Parent passed by in front of a small cemetery more than a decade ago off 24 Mile Road, he realized that the landscaping just wasn’t cutting it.
So, he decided to cut the grass himself to do his part in his community.
“I think it’s two acres, and I weed-whacked the entire thing because I didn’t have a riding lawnmower at the time,” said Parent. “It’s a big labor of love.”
For 13 years, Parent has voluntarily led the charge to maintain the nearly centuries-old Macomb Township landmark.
“I was recently retired, and I had nothing else to do,” Parent said with a smile, adding that he keeps up the property of respect for those buried in the Macomb Whitney Cemetery.
The cemetery is filled with local history, including ties to Macomb Township.
Headstones from the early 1800s are carved with names you see on street signs in the area today.
“The Hall family is here, and the Card family, the Foss family,” Parent said. “The founding fathers of the area is what they are.”
Taking care of the property has gone from keeping it up to cleaning it up. Severe storms passed through the area last week, causing damage, including a fallen tree in the middle of the cemetery.
Parent, a group of friends, and neighbors cleaned up most of the damage in two days, but those repairing a place in need now need more help.
“We need a volunteer to come in and help clean up all this stuff,” Parent said. “Someone with a landscaping company or a tree company to come in with a woodchipper to feed all of this stuff in and to cut up this behemoth (of a tree) and haul it out of here.”
A volunteer effort to preserve a key piece of Macomb Township history by respecting the past in the process is now taking place.
“They helped the country we live in today,” volunteer Carol McGinty said. “They gave everything for us.”
If you would like to aid the volunteer efforts in removing the tree, please contact helpmacombwhitneycemetery@gmail.com.
