Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Grieving family dismayed by cemetery flower policy
Andy and Donna Rumford lost their daughter, Kacie, to a drug overdose four years ago
EAST MARLBOROUGH >> It’s been four years since Andy Rumford and his wife Donna lost their daughter, Kacie, to a drug overdose. She was just 23 when Andy discovered her body on the bedroom floor. Since then, they have been on a crusade to bring about awareness of the danger of using drugs.
They even formed Kacie’s Cause, an organization of concerned parents seeking to educate the community of the widespread use of heroin and substance abuse disorders, and to suggest resources that may provide treatment and recovery support. Kacie’s Cause even provides an annual scholarship at Kennett High School.
Since Kacie’s death, not a week has gone by without Andy and Donna visiting their daughter’s crypt at Edgewood Memorial Park in Glen Mills. They change the flowers periodically and decorate them with each new holiday season. They usually visit three times a week.
In the winter, Andy even clears
the snow away from Kacie’s flowers. They leave candy canes there during the Christmas season, and Kacie’s Easter Basket there during Easter. They want Kacie to know that even in the afterlife, she is deeply loved.
Since Kacie’s spot is the highest level on the crypt – about 20 feet up – flowers are left at the base, and it can take several weeks for flowers to be placed high up in the urn. But whether the flowers are up high or low, the Rumfords want flowers there.
But recently, flowers left at the site have been removed. Fresh flowers left there one day are gone the next.
“All we want is to leave flowers at the base of our dead daughter’s crypt,” Andy Rumford said. “The compassion isn’t there.”
Kevin Arevalo, an official with Edgewood Memorial Park, said flowers in pots and urns left at mausoleum crypts pose a danger to workers and are removed.
“We certainly empathize with grieving families who wish to add personal items to the loved one’s final resting place,” he said. “However, certain decorations may present safety hazards to our grounds workers and visitors to the park. It is our policy to place all flowers in the bronze vase. Decorations at mausoleum crypts are limited due to space, and because of this limitation, we remove any items that may present safety issues for those who visit our park and their loved ones.”
Despite the policy, Andy Rumford said he will continue to leave flowers there in remembrance of his daughter.
“I’ll keep leaving flowers until they take them away, or until I am arrested,” Andy Rumford said. “If they take the flowers and throw them away, so be it. I know Kacie’s soul is everywhere.”
Andy Rumford said he had bought a park bench and left it at Kacie’s crypt. Donna suffered a stroke in 1998 and has trouble walking, and the bench was a good place for her to rest. But the bench was taken away, and was replaced a few months later with a new one. According to Arevalo, it is all about maintaining a consistent standard of appearance.
“We have an obligation to all families we serve and their loved ones who are interred at our cemetery to maintain a consistent standard of appearance as well as safety in or around their loved ones’ resting place,” he said. “It was never our intention to upset or offend any client family. We will continue the practice of notifying families of our policies and procedures.”
“I’ll still visit her three times a week to talk, pray, but mostly cry,” Andy Rumford said. “With the opioid issue all over this country, compassion sure is lacking here.”