CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Saint Anthony’s Old Cemetery is the cleanest it has been for several years.
However, it wasn’t the city that stepped in to help. A local man, Freddy Gonzalez said it took blood, sweat and tears to clean it up.
“I think it’s just my duty because one of these days I'll be one of these graves or family members of mine,” Gonzalez said.
As we reported in October,Gonzalez has been doing the maintenance work at this cemetery for the last 5 years, spending his own money.
Over time, he’s been able to slowly clean it up with the help of his nephew and son.
“I had to get a special mower to come in and help us. Then, the guys came in to mow it and we went through it in 2-3 days,” Gonzalez said.
On the phone, Gonzalez’ nephew Arnulfo Gonzalez said the cemetery has been forgotten and neglected, leaving families in despair.
“It's pretty disappointing that it takes one individual to step up with no one helping him out,” Arnulfo Gonzalez said.
Gonzalez said he’s tried to find the owner of Saint Anthony’s old cemetery, but has had no luck.
“Nobody has said that they claim it. They’ve asked questions, asking if I would get paid to do this. I would really like some more help,” he added.
We looked for answers and found the special warranty deed for the cemetery. We found it belongs to Rodrigo Ramon Jr. We stopped by the address listed on the deed, but no one was home.
As Gonzalez and other Robstown families keep hoping for a solution to this problem, we will continue our search for the owner of Saint Anthony’s Old Cemetery.
