Heartbreak at ‘theft’ of ceramic dogs on mum’s grave
AN NHS mental health worker from Swadlincote has spoken of her anger and heartbreak after a pair of ceramic dogs were “stolen” from her mother’s grave.
Jo Smith, 43, was devastated when she found the items had gone missing from Maureen’s headstone at the York Road cemetery in Church Gresley.
Maureen, 67, who died in 2020, was the owner and manager of Pupils School Wear in Swadlincote. She was also the owner of two dogs, which were represented by the two ceramic ornaments.
Now, Jo says that she feels as if she has “lost her faith in humanity”.
Her heartbreak only intensified after one of her mum’s actual dogs, Dylan, died just days after the ornaments went missing.
Jo said: “The actual ornaments themselves weren’t of high cost – it was the principle behind it.
“We’d gone up there to do a bit of weeding and maintenance. Me and my sister, Louise, usually try to go up once a month, plus on special occasions such as birthdays and Mother’s Day. We go up and take fake flowers, as well as do a bit of gardening around the site.
“When we got up to Mum’s grave, we thought it looked a bit sparse. Not long after we looked at an old photo of the grave and we realised that the labradors were not there. I was pretty angry and upset. To be honest, I’ve lost faith in humanity since the start of Covid, but this really shocked me. I just remember angrily thinking: ‘Who could possibly do that?.’
“The whole thing just confused me the more and more I thought about it. I don’t even know what to say.”
Since then, Jo put up a post on social media, which prompted people to come forward to her to offer to replace the ornaments.
She added: “I put the post on Facebook whilst I was in the graveyard and some lovely lad offered to replace them out of his own pockets.
“I then wanted to double-check just to see if it had been knocked off and been moved on to another grave by mistake. I had a look round on every gravestone. My first thought was maybe that someone broke them by mistake.
“Me and Louise have thought about replacing them and buying some more but it makes us feel sad.”
Maureen ran the Pupils School Wear shop with her husband and Jo’s father, Robert, and has been described as someone “everyone” in Swadlincote knew.
She added: “Mum and Dad ran Pupils School Wear for many years until they retired in 2019. People knew her. She was everybody’s agony aunt. If you had a problem she would be able to help you with it.
“She was really lovely and kind to everyone. She loved Bailey, her labrador, and Dylan, her Cavalier King Charles as much as anything and those dog ornaments were there to be with her on her grave. She adored them, they were her life. Especially Dylan, he was her baby.
“Given that Dylan just died, I am just angry and upset. I feel like asking where has the respect for anything or anyone gone? Where has the nice human race gone? Mum and Dad gave so much to the community and meant so much to so many people.
“The whole thing is just so confusing to me. There should be better security at the gates. I just wish people had more respect for other people’s property.”
South Derbyshire District Council, which runs the cemetery, has been approached for a comment.