Township vows to restore veteran tombstones

Veteran graves in two Xenia Twp. cemeteries are being restored as part of a multi-year project to clean and rehabilitate the sites.

“Xenia Twp. in the last three years has started a multi-phase project to clean and restore all of the stones,” said Alan Stock, Xenia Twp. Administrator.

Stock said the township set aside some of its funds to put toward the project and they also received a $5,000 grant from the Daughters of the American Revolution.

Ron Nocella, with American Grave Groomers, has been working on restoring some of the gravestones at Stevenson Cemetery on Jones Road.

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“We used our biological solution on it.  We cleaned it about six or seven times with soft bristle brushes,” Nocella said as he clean a veterans grave site.  “This stone was actually green and black last week.”

According to Stock, the township has spent between $8,000 and $9,000 on restoration over the last two years and anticpates spending about $10,000 this year.

“We want to be highly respectful,” the township administrator said.

In addition to Stevenson Cemetery, the township also is having work done in Friends Cemetery on U.S. 68.

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