KAMC Investigates: Lamesa Cemetery Still in Disrepair
By: Nick Ochsner
Updated: March 6, 2013
KAMC Investigates first went to the Lamesa Memorial Park in August, after getting complaints from dozens of residents.
We found headstones overrun with weeds, sunken graves and scores of dead plants.
Maintenance crews made some improvements after our first story, which caught the attention of State Representative Tom Craddick and prompted an investigation by the Texas Banking Commission, which oversees perpetual care cemeteries.
But after promising improvements at first, crews seemed to stop making progress several months ago, James Archer and his family say.
"They worked really hard the first couple months, then it just started droppin' off, droppin' off, then they quit," Archer said.
When our cameras went back to the cemetery a few weeks ago, we found broken statues, a leaking pipe flooding rows of head stones and more graves overrun with weeds.
It was enough to make us wonder why the Texas Banking Commission said the cemetery looked fine, after a visit of their own in late 2012.
James Archer is asking the same question.
"[Fine] compared to what?" he asked. "That's what I want to know, what does it look fine to? Compared to what? It doesn't look fine to me."
A representative for the cemetery says he has recently hired more workers and plans to plant new grass as soon as the weather warms up in April.
We'll be back to make sure he follows through on those promises.


