It was a beautiful mausoleum...once. A mausoleum that was advertised as 'magnificent'. Built of sturdy concrete and trimmed with Italian marble and granite. Crypt-filled walls, both inside and out. Some decorated with vases for flowers, others with crosses. Gold-tone letters marked the names of the dead who lay within.
The year was 1976. An organization known as Westminster Associates came together with an idea to build a final resting place with a chapel where loved ones could visit their deceased in a peaceful location.
In 1994, ownership was transferred to a man named Larry Deminski. The mausoleum and adjoining cemetery grounds were incorporated as the Westminster Memorial Garden with Mr. Deminski as the sole owner.
In 2001, the property was donated to an entity called Unity Light of Christ Church with which Mr. Deminski had an affiliation. However, there is no official record of this transaction.
By 2003, the land was overgrown and neglected. The water and electricity had been shut off. A tax bill of more than $20,000 was attached to the property. No one was doing any type of maintenance.
Larry Deminski passed away in 2004. Although he stated there was money set aside for perpetual care, he claimed it was stolen by someone who forged his name on a bank slip.
A county tax auction was held in 2005. Lawrence Lee and Victoria Evstafieva took possession for a mere $4,500. They bought the property sight unseen. Some have said they had no idea they were purchasing a cemetery. Years later in 2012, Lee and Evstafieva would go to court on the grounds that the property should have never been listed for auction as it was a burial ground and therefore tax exempt. They lost their suit as the statute of limitations had run out, and the previous owner had never filed for tax-exempt status.
In all the time of ownership by Lee and Evstafieva, nothing was done to the property. By 2015 they owed over $15,000 in back taxes. That same year the mausoleum was condemned. The doors were locked and the outdoor crypt areas were wrapped in yellow tape.
Fast forward to 2022.
I discovered the plight of Good Shepherd while doing research on another mausoleum and promised myself I would take a ride to see it. I wasn't sure what would be found as most of my information was several years old. But on a cold and gloomy November day last year, I packed the car with my camera and some snacks and drove several hours to Good Shepherd's front door.
As expected, it was locked. Paperwork signed and posted by the building inspector earlier in the year stated 'use or occupancy was strictly prohibited'. But, someone who had come sometime before had decided a locked door was not going to stop them from going inside. A gaping hole was smashed through the left side pane of glass. It was large enough for anyone to step through and I knew that's where I would go.
Gathering my camera and putting on shoe covers, an N95 mask, safety glasses, and gloves, I crossed from the outdoors into what I'd only seen on my laptop.
It was much worse in person.
The stained glass window was punctured with holes. The face of the "good shepherd" was obliterated.
Drippings of rust and who knows what stained the marble.
A lift used for installing or removing caskets from crypts sat unused in the corner.
A speaker's podium hadn't heard solemn words in years. I noticed two crypts in the background had lost their lettering. Who was in there? It is said that burial records have been lost.
A cross and other artificial flowers stood randomly on a floor that was covered with a filthy carpet and littered with a number of things. Shattered bricks, dead leaves, broken candles.
Here is a beautiful example of one of the flower vases.
And another.
A crucifix from one of the exterior crypts.
A better view of my entrance and exit.
I took off my safety gear and walked around outside. The left side exterior has a concrete cantilever overhang in such bad condition I was more afraid to walk underneath it than to enter the mausoleum itself. Do you see orbs? Or is this a camera anomaly? You decide.
Going around to the right side almost all of the roof cantilever is gone. Several bodies had been removed also.
At one point the township allowed funeral directors to enter the property to remove a body as long as the relatives of the deceased obtained a court order and the funeral director signed a liability waiver. But, these days the cost of removing a body and reinterring it somewhere else runs into thousands and thousands of dollars, an amount that could be prohibitive for most.
And what about those deceased who no longer have living relatives? Are they too, doomed to stay in a deteriorating building that one day could collapse into a pile of rubble, exposed caskets, and possibly bones?
I walked down the driveway towards the building that once held the office. By now it was raining.
Heaven's tears perhaps?
The entrance door was covered by vines and shrubs and offered no way to get inside.
Most of the windows were partially open or broken. What I could see from the outside were rooms filled with hoards of objects and papers. I wondered what all of this was and could anything important be buried in there. For me, that answer would have to wait for another day perhaps.
Looking back from the office, I gazed at the neatly trimmed grass of the cemetery grounds. Several graves had potted plants. Flags whipped in the wind over the plots of veterans. Perhaps family volunteers have taken over the mowing to at least show the world there was some semblance of respect here for their loved ones and others.
I could not help but feel sad after seeing all of this. My ride home was rather somber and reflective. It just seemed like everyone stood around and watched all of this happen as the years went by.
There is a proverb that says, "The road to hell is paved with good intentions." I believe the people who first planned out Good Shepherd fulfilled their promise to create a magnificent mausoleum and chapel. But due to many unfortunate circumstances, mishandling, and an overall lack of empathy and care, it became hell for the families of people interred there.
2023 Christine Shephard Photography
No portion of this article or copyrighted photos may be used without express written consent from Christine Shephard Photography.
Comments