MELBOURNE, Fla. — A Brevard County man and veteran is hoping a cemetery established in 1912 by the African American community in the county will rally community members to clean it up.
- Brevard veteran wants locals to help clean up Shady Oaks Cemetery
- He says some graves are buried by vegetation, while others have trash
- City, county officials say they aren't in charge of the cemetery
On the side of a busy stretch of road on U.S. 1, Michael Cheek says he pulled over and started walking around the cemetery, exploring a place that’s been in the community for more than 100 years.
What he found was a mystery — all the way in the back of Shady Oaks Cemetery in the midst of what looks like a secret garden, he found two graves buried by the vegetation. He spent hours cleaning up the site, and then he started picking up trash from other places in the cemetery.
Cheek noticed it seemed like even though this is the last resting place for the people buried, some homeless people have been camping out in it.
He says he wants to restore the place because veterans are buried at Shady Oaks. As a veteran with two sons who joined the military, he says it's his duty to take care of one another, even in death.
At the entrance of the humble looking cemetery, Cheek put up a pole with a flag as a way to show tribute to his fellow veterans.
“There are a lot of veterans here. It’s a disservice to them the graves are in such bad shape,” he explained.
Michael says he wants uncover what he thinks could be more graves hidden by overgrown vegetation, but he needs the help of the community.
Spectrum News 13 reached out to the Melbourne city officials and Brevard County officials, and both said they agency is not in charge of the cemetery. It reportedly used to belong to a family called the Tuckers, but we are following leads to find out who owns the community cemetery now.