Jobless man cleans up old cemetery

TAUNTON, Mass. (WPRI) - An unemployed Taunton man has taken it upon himself to clean up a neglected old cemetery, dating back hundreds of years.

Rik Thetonia lost his job at a photo album company almost two years ago. While he is collecting unemployment, and looking for a new job, he says he felt like he needed to do more.

He walks from his house to the Crane Avenue Burying Ground three days a week, and cleans it up by hand.

Rik learned the graveyard is where members of the Thayer family are buried. Among those resting there, John Thayer, a Revolutionary War veteran, and Private Francis Thayer, who fought in the Civil War.

When he found the abandoned burial site, he found most of  of the 30 headstones covered in leaves and pine needles. Rik says he feels obligated to take care of the Thayer family's final resting place.

"We owe everything we have to our veterans, from the very first war fought on our land up to now," Rik said. "In the end, all we have left is remembrance."

The Taunton Commissioner of Parks, Cemeteries, and Public Grounds says Rik's efforts are a nice gesture with the economy the way it is.

Rik said a member of the Thayer family still living in Georgia has thanked him for his work.