UPDATE: First Tennessee sent Local 24 this statement Thursday afternoon:
“First Tennessee Bank does not own the Mt. Carmel-Hollywood Cemetery property, but administers limited funds available from a trust account to pay a grounds keeping company for periodic basic grass cutting services. We are working with state officials to determine the owner and with Shelby County officials to resolve this matter.”
Dozens of Memphis families are upset about conditions at the cemetery where their loved ones are buried. A South Memphis woman tells Local 24 her grandmother’s headstone is missing at Mount Carmel Cemetery.
The fight to clean up this cemetery started in 2013 when the owners filed for bankruptcy.
Families say someone needs to maintain their loved one’s final resting place.
“My grandmother was my everything, she was my heart,” said Mary Frazier, who says her grandmother’s headstone is now missing. Frazier lost her grandmother in 1997. She says it was a hard blow because her grandmother raised her.
“Certain things in my life that was happening, I wish that she was a part of it. And I use to just come out here and just want to talk to her and let her know how good I am in life right now,” Frazier explained.
However, lately, her visits to Mount Carmel Cemetery have been tough because of the missing headstone.
“I don’t know what happened to it. I really don’t,” Frazier explained.
The cemetery was previously owned by Calvin and Carolyn Hayes, who filed for bankruptcy in July of 2013. The property then became abandoned and a judge ordered Shelby County to maintain the property.
County officials had inmates cleaning it up until First Tennessee Bank stepped in. Officials say they were told the bank had a contract with a landscaping business.
“Just let us know, and there is nobody to ask and that’s ridiculous, I just want answers” Frazier said. “I like for them to keep this cemetery up, fix the drive way so people can come and visit their loved ones, and have my grandmother headstone back.”
Shelby County officials say they alerted the bank and requested all records with the landscaping company. They were last told that business was doing its job, but families say that is not true. Again, First Tennessee reps tell us they do not own the property, but are working with the county to resolve the matter.
