Historic Stratford grave is restored
A lovingly restored original headstone in the Pioneer Cemetery in Stratford marks the resting place of two members of an old Stratford family while also honouring a third family member.
The new headstone was commissioned by Keith Randal Herd of Tauranga, the great grandson and great nephew of the three people the headstone names. Keith himself is named in part after his great uncle, sharing a middle name with him.
Keith’s great grandparents, Carl Heinrich and Martha Meyenberg, were buried in the cemetery in the early 20th century. Their headstone also bears the name of their youngest son, Walter Randal Meyenberg, who died and was buried in France, during World War I.
Last year, Keith and his family were doing some research into their relatives who were some of the pioneer settlers of Stratford.
As part of their research they contacted the Stratford Press and the Stratford District Council to get some information and contact details to further help them.
They discovered the original grave was in a bad state, with the headstone lying in a pile of other old headstones at the cemetery. They decided to commission restoration of the headstone with the aim of having it completed this year, exactly 100 years after Walter Randal Meyenberg died on the battlefields of France.
Keith says he was delighted that this was achieved, with the restored headstone and concrete plinth installed just one week before Anzac Day this year.