Tombstones straightened. Slabs raised. Deceased honored.

Those are the immediate goals of the Rosehill Cemetery Restoration Foundation.

The City of Brookhaven maintains seven cemeteries. Of those, the 22-acre Rosehill Cemetery on East Monticello Street has been in serious need of repair for quite a while, said Brookhaven Alderman-at-Large Karen Sullivan.

While all the cemeteries need some touchups, it was Rosehill that she took on as a special project. “The fence was rusted and falling down,” she said. “There was no name on the cemetery. You just had to know it was Rosehill.”

The city can only do so much, she said, so it became a project for concerned individuals.

“As big as the cemetery was, the city couldn’t possibly take care of all we wanted to do, so we organized Rosehill Cemetery Restoration Foundation,” she said.

The foundation is composed of people who intend to one day be buried in Rosehill as well as others like Sullivan — people without plots there who are concerned with keeping up the cemetery out of respect for the families of those buried there.

“A lot of our people are connected that way,” she said. “But a lot of them are just interested in what it could be, what it should be.”

The group relies on dues from members and donations to fund the work that is needed at Rosehill.

Sullivan said a lot of the slabs had sunken into the ground and tombstones were leaning.

They’ve hired Earl Fleming and Wesley Martin with Brookhaven Monument Co. to work at the cemetery on Saturdays when they’re available to correct those issues.

The Brookhaven Monument Co. has generously volunteered the use of its equipment for Fleming and Martin to use at the cemetery, Sullivan said.

The men started working Saturday and Sullivan expects that because funds are limited, the work could take them into next year. “They’ll work on it until they’re finished,” she said. “We’ll just have to do as much as the funds allow.”

Sullivan has been able to earmark some money in the city’s budget for Rosehill.

She tackled the gate, fence and landscaping the first year. Then the second year she budgeted for the entrance to the second section of Rosehill Cemetery located on Congress Street. In the third year, she was able to replace the rusty fence in both of the areas, she said.

“This year we’re budgeting to finish the fence,” she said.

She said she took on this project because it was the right thing to do.  “A lot of people visit their loved one’s graves,” she said. “And I think the dead deserve the respect of the living.”

Yearly dues for the foundation are $25 for an individual, $40 for a family and $100 for a corporation.

Members meet once a year and whenever the need arises, Sullivan said.

Donations and dues can be sent to Rosehill Cemetery Restoration Foundation, P.O. Box 727, Brookhaven, MS, 39602.

For more information about the foundation, call Sullivan at 601-833-8240 or visit Rosehill Cemetery Restoration Foundation on Facebook.