Bereaved Assail Conditions at Cemetery in Simi

At Simi Valley Public Cemetery, an occasional bouquet of wilting red roses or yellow carnations dots the grassy landscape in the two newer sections, near the entrance. To the rear are two older areas, sometimes called the pioneer sections, where large headstones bear the names of some of the town’s early settlers.

It appears to be a quaint little cemetery.

Unless you are Ron Thompson, and your 17-year-old son, Michael, is buried there. Then you notice tire tracks from a tractor that has been driven directly over graves, and weeds that are beginning to cover some of the memorial markers.

Lucy Chavez, who has at least 10 relatives buried there, is disturbed that no one has repaired the headstones that have been toppled by vandals.

Roy LaRaia, whose young son Rory, mother-in-law and a sister-in-law are buried there, complains that the cement holding some markers in place is crumbling and that other markers are sinking into the ground.

Oldest Burial Ground

Thompson, Chavez, LaRaia and some other Simi Valley residents charge that the city’s oldest burial ground suffers from years of neglect and sloppy maintenance. “All we want to do is have a place to go, to remember those people that we’ve lost, and these people are defacing that memory,” Thompson said.

Margaretta Adamo was so upset with what she saw as poor maintenance that three years ago she looked into the possibility of having the body of her 17-year-old son exhumed and transferred to another cemetery. She rejected the idea after being told it would cost about $4,000.

“The cement has been crumbling from the corner of my son’s headstone,” said Adamo, whose son, James, took his own life 10 years ago. “The place has gone consistently downhill in the last four or five years.”

The public cemetery, where people have been buried since the late 1880s, was privately owned for many years until it was taken over by Ventura County government in 1946. The volunteer Simi Valley Cemetery Board, appointed by Ventura County supervisors, meets once a month and oversees the annual budget of $46,223. The money comes from county tax revenues, the sale of grave sites at about $400 each and other burial fees.

“There are problems, but I don’t think they are as serious as some of the people have indicated,” said board chairman Gordon Lindeen.

“If you’re used to Forest Lawn, our cemetery probably needs help,” said board member Neil Havens, whose family has a plot in the cemetery, “but this is a small town.”

Maintenance Funds Limited

Lindeen said the cemetery board will pay to reset markers that were improperly set. But because funds are limited, some of the concerns about conditions at the cemetery may never be completely satisfied.

“No matter how badly we would like to have everything looking perfect, on the budget we have, we probably will not be able to do it,” he said.

There was a time when few people complained about the 7 1/2-acre cemetery, sandwiched between the perfectly-clipped lawns of Rancho Simi Community Park and one of the many housing projects that sprang up during the development boom that hit Simi a decade ago.

For 16 years, Bill Honsinger was caretaker, and his wife, Virginia, served as the cemetery’s office clerk and record-keeper. Everyone who knew Bill Honsinger respected his abilities.

“Bill knew almost without any help at all, without anyone giving him instructions, what to do to make that cemetery look good,” said Lindeen, who has been on the cemetery board since the Honsingers came in 1965.

When Bill Honsinger died in 1981, the chore of maintaining the approximately 1,100 graves fell to his son, Dale, who moved his family into the two-bedroom caretaker’s quarters just outside the entrance to the cemetery. Aside from providing him with a place to live, the job paid $500 a month. Many say the problems with the cemetery started when Dale took over. He resigned last month.

Thompson and LaRaia, who say they frequently visit the graves of their sons, are quick to point out what they contend is evidence of the poor maintenance. Tire tracks running through the fresh soil of one grave prove that the tractor used to carry dirt has been run over graves, Thompson said.

“We might rant and rave, but by golly, I think we got a right to, after years of neglect,” he said.

LaRaia, whose 15-year-old son died as a result of an injury in a football game, said that grave markers in place only a few months are already crumbling. Thompson said he paid $40 to have the marker for his son set by Dale Honsinger, and twice it had been done improperly.

The Family Factor

Lindeen said Dale Honsinger did not match his father’s abilities as a groundskeeper. “Bill was sort of a natural, and in his son, we thought we were going to get the same or much of the same knowledge because he worked with his dad,” he said. “But apparently, it wasn’t as instinctive to Dale as it was to Bill.”

Lindeen said Honsinger had not used enough cement to set the markers and in some cases, used a “bad batch” of cement. The tire tracks on the graves may have been because the tractor is old and hard to maneuver, Lindeen said. The board has agreed to buy a new tractor and is considering remedies for vandalized headstones and the weeds covering grave markers, Lindeen said.

In October, as criticism of the cemetery grew, Dale Honsinger resigned, saying he wanted a job that paid more money and, unlike the caretaker’s position, included paid vacations and medical benefits.

In his letter of resignation, Honsinger agreed to perform “minimal” maintenance work at the cemetery until a replacement caretaker is found, and at present the board has not hired anyone.

He refused to be interviewed, according to his mother, who is still the cemetery’s clerk.

‘It’s Pretty Rough’

“After giving service to the community for 20 years and then have a handful of people become vocal, it’s pretty rough,” his mother said, explaining why her son refuses to discuss the controversy. “There are hundreds of people that come in and out of this cemetery, and this little group has suddenly been using us as target practice.”

Virginia Honsinger also disputed the claim that things have changed since her son took over as caretaker. “Dale doesn’t have the same personality as his father, but he took care of the grounds in the same way,” she said.

With the departure of Dale Honsinger, some of the cemetery’s critics are willing to give the governing board a chance to make good on its promise of better maintenance, even if it means charging more to keep the grounds up.

“I feel as though I have come to a place of peace in my heart,” said Margaretta Adamo, referring to the trauma of her son’s suicide, but added she is upset that the cemetery is not properly maintained. “I have to cut back the grass on my own son’s headstone,” she said.

“There is not enough care given to the property for whatever reason. If it’s a matter of funds, I would be happy to make a one-time assessment. I’d be willing to contribute $50 or $100 or whatever,” Adamo said.