38.5°F  Website Login | RochesterJune 28, 2011Local Scout finds unmarked veteran gravesEagle Scout helps city update cemetery records
By Chris Jackett
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Eagle Scout Justin Ashlock, left, mapped out Mount Avon Cemetery for his final Scout project with some help from his mother and, left to right, grandparents Gene Allen and Suzanne Allen of Northville Township and volunteer Jim Jurkiewicz of Rochester.
Eagle Scout Justin Ashlock, left, mapped out Mount Avon Cemetery for his final Scout project with some help from his mother and, left to right, grandparents Gene Allen and Suzanne Allen of Northville Township and volunteer Jim Jurkiewicz of Rochester.
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ROCHESTER — Some pieces of history disappear over time.
But thanks to Eagle Scout Justin Ashlock, some of the history at Mount Avon Cemetery has a new life.
As part of his final Scout project, the 18-year-old Rochester Hills resident mapped out the 22-acre cemetery in an effort to clear up the current maps on file with the city while also verifying which grave sites are occupied by military veterans.
The entire project took about 134 hours and culminated June 23, when Ashlock was recognized as an Eagle Scout.
“I had fun. It was a lot of work,” Ashlock said.
After half a decade of joining Rochester-based Troop 123 in placing American flags next to the markers of the graves of military veterans, Ashlock figured it would be beneficial to make sure every veteran’s grave is being marked, not just those that list a military branch on the gravestone.
“We field-tested two sections of the cemetery against what” the city maps showed, said Cheryl Ashlock, Justin’s mother. “There are sites marked by the city as veterans, but the stone just says ‘Dad’ or something. You wouldn’t know by looking at the marker.”
City Clerk Lee Ann O’Connor said Rochester inherited the cemetery from Avon Township in 1967. It was Oakland County’s first plotted cemetery in 1826, and among the 1,400 graves are three veterans who fought in the American Revolution.
During his project, Ashlock discovered additional graves of veterans who were not listed in the city’s documents because the graves, from the Civil War era, were worn.
“I went there with my mom and grandparents and there was this one part that was unmarked,” Ashlock said.
That unmarked territory had 14 veterans’ graves in it.
“By him starting this, we’re able to update our database the way it should be,” O’Connor said.
Cheryl Ashlock said her son analyzed two sections, or about 15 percent, of the entire cemetery, leaving the door open for a future Boy Scout to finish analyzing the rest of the lots.
“I hope someone else picks it up in the future,” Justin Ashlock said, noting he’d like to see his work completed so future troops have a better idea of what graves to place flags on during Memorial Day weekend. This year, more than 500 were placed at Mount Avon Cemetery.
Cheryl Ashlock said Troop 123 members and residents living near the cemetery were helpful throughout the process.
“The whole point of the Eagle Scout project is not that they do the work by themselves, but learn to lead others,” Cheryl Ashlock said. “He had to do a fundraiser bottle drive. They raised the money for the copying, CDs and any other surprise costs.”
Mount Avon Cemetery is located at 400 Sixth St.
