Some not happy with conditions at Glendale cemetery

GLENDALE, Ariz. (FOX 10) -- Memorial Day is a time to remember old friends and lost loved ones. Oftentimes, that includes a trip to a cemetery.

However, one Valley family who visits the Resthaven Cemetery in Glendale doesn't always like what they see, as there are debris and trash that sometimes seem to stack up.

Mary Schlagel and family come to Resthaven to pay respects to her parents, but some of what she sees is starting to get under her skin.

"It hurts me, not just my mom and dad, but everybody out here disrespected," said Schlagel.

From trash and tire tracks, Dirt-covered and off-kilter headstones, to cups and bottles and even a bed in some nearby bushes, probably made by a homeless person. In one part of the cemetery, there was also a hole in the ground between two markers that was at least two feet deep.

Mike Kingman and his wife brought a bucket and brush to clean off the markers of two former friends who served with him in the military.

"We took a brush to everything, you know, just out of respect," said Kingman.

At any cemetery, dirt and debris come with the turf. Resthaven itself covers nearly 90 acres. Management said most of the problems happen after irrigation, and when they see the homeless, they call the police. For Larry Caddenhead, things look just fine.

"It's not bad. I've seen a lot worse, I'll tell you that," said Caddenhead.

"When you find big holes in the ground, tire treads and headstones that are cracked, I don't see that as perpetual care, I see that as perpetual neglect," said Schlagel.

For Schlagel, she has clearly seen enough, and as long as the resting place of her parents is not up to "Schlagel Standards", she refuses to rest easy.