EVERETT — For Matt Wilczynski, it was a way of honoring the people who have come before him.
As part of his Eagle Scout project, Wilczynski, 17, organized a group of 28 people over the weekend to clean up and level more than 200 headstones at Evergreen Cemetery.
“Most of these people’s families have passed so nobody is taking care of their graves,” Wilczynski said. “They really needed the cleaning.”
It’s the same cemetery where vandals last month took a sledgehammer to more than 10 markers and left behind empty beer bottles and thousands of dollars worth of damage.
Wilczynski said he didn’t touch any of the vandalized stones because they were so severely damaged they needed professional attention.
Indeed, most of the damaged markers were completely smashed and have to be replaced, said Stephen Locklear, funeral home family service adviser.
He said the cost to replace the stones themselves is not that great, but altogether the damage might be as much as $60,000.
Some of the markers are so damaged it’s impossible to read the names on them. It will take a lot of time and research to obtain those names, he said.
Locklear said the vandals probably didn’t specifically target the graves of veterans. It’s just that the marble, typically used for veterans’ markers, is a softer and more easily damaged stone than granite.
“Their purpose was to cause havoc, which they succeeded extremely well at,” he said.
Allen Ice, general manager of the cemetery, said people have reacted immediately. They called to ask about their loved ones’ graves. One woman even offered to donate an unused marker.
Local chapters of the Elks and Eagles, the American Legion and the Veterans of Foreign Wars even set up a fund to help pay for the restoration, Ice said.
All donations are welcome at any First Heritage Bank branch, for the Fund for Vandalized Veterans’ Graves.
Reporter Katya Yefimova: 425-339-3452 or kyefimova@heraldnet.com.
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