Langley Township removes sentimental items from gravesite
Posted May 25, 2022 11:42 am.
Last Updated May 26, 2022 5:32 am.
A Langley man and his family have been left devastated after he discovered his younger brother’s grave had been cleared of sentimental mementos.
Robbie Franks often visits his younger brother’s grave at the Langley Lawn Cemetery in the Langley Township, but last week when he and his partner Devon arrived, they were shocked to find the headstone bare.
After looking around the cemetery, the couple says they found mementos were taken from other graves and piled up ‘like garbage.’
“The one pile we started to look through and found a couple of things and noticed some of our friends and other family member’s items and pictures and portraits and and then we you know by then we were just… there was nothing to say,” Devon Franks said with emotion in her voice.
The family had left lights and objects at Richard Franks grave, including hamburger statues since they were Richard’s favourite food.
“I could understand if people were leaving mess everywhere [but] let’s be honest, it’s a very, very beautiful well-kept site. The last seven years of my life, I spent a lot of time there. I lost my little brother. So it was my time to sit there and just bond and it’s just so saddening that I went there and everything was gone,” Robbie Franks said.
Richard Franks died in 2015 at 28-years-old, and the family says visiting the grave site has been an important part of their grieving process.
The Franks say they feel even worse for some other families, as even items left at the graves of babies and young children were removed.
“Someone’s just lost their child, you know, it just didn’t make sense to us how it could be tossed and thrown away,” Devon Franks said.
The Township of Langley says keeping the cemetery clean is an important part of the municipal responsibilities and that it made the decision to remove the items after “recent concerns” were raised.
It conducted the cleanup operations at Langley Lawn Cemetery, Fort Langley Cemetery, and the Murrayville Cemetery.
A photo of the gravesite after the Langley Township removed the items at the site. (Courtesy: Robbie Franks)
“Cemetery Bylaw No.5236 was created to provide regulations around placement of flowers, wreaths, and floral offerings, including both natural and artificial, with no provisions for other ornamental adornments. Despite Bylaw provisions, a significant number of flowers, adornments, and decorations had accumulated over time, including several broken or deteriorated items, posing an increasingly challenging and unsafe condition for maintenance staff and the public,” the statement reads in part.
The Township also says signs were placed at the entrance of the affected cemeteries warning of the imminent removal.
But the Franks take issue with that, saying they never noticed any signs and they are there constantly.
Through tears, Robbie says his hope is that the policy will be changed going forward so no other families experience the pain. He’s also urging other loved ones to get to the cemetery to reclaim their mementos before they are permanently discarded.
The Franks were able to retrieve some of the items from the pile left at the graveyard and they have since set up a memorial at their home. (Courtesy: Robbie Franks)
The Franks have placed the recovered mementos in their home for safe keeping.
