Ancestry interests leads to man's tombstone restoration project for city's bicentennial

Life doesn’t exist without death as its equal.

Andy Wright, an operations manager with Steritech and a local history enthusiast, believes where there’s beauty in life, there is beauty in death and it should also be respected.

Through decades and centuries of sitting idly, natural erosion corrupts tombstones that once stood firmly and in place to commemorate the lives of those who've died. Some fall over and break. Others seep into the ground.

In Tallahassee, a city established in 1824, Daniel Lynes' tombstone is the oldest known, planted in 1829, and it still stands at the Old City Cemetery, 400 W. Park Ave.

This is one of the many cemeteries where Wright has begun fulfilling his goal of restoring 200 tombstones for the capital city’s bicentennial year with the help of his son, AJ, and two graduate students at Florida State University, Grace Hammel and William Oaks.

“My mom’s been into genealogy since I was a little kid,” said Wright, 56, as he walked through the cemetery, comparing before and after images of headstones he’d repaired. “Back when I was a kid, we would go to cemeteries, looking for relatives. So I’ve always had an interest in it.”

Their adventures together led to Wright’s passion for uncovering ancestral and familial history within his own genealogy. The Orlando native longed for the opportunity to see and visit his grandfather’s grave, located in Delaware, but the distance didn’t allow for frequent visits to the site.

After stumbling across findagrave.com, Wright discovered the ability to observe images of his grandfather's tombstone, after listing details about his life and requesting a photograph.

He understood the importance a site like this could have on others who want to connect with their lost loved ones, so several years ago he began to photograph other tombstones locally that he has since uploaded onto the site.

In doing this, Wright noticed that some tombstones were better cared for than others, especially those located in the back of large cemeteries or at gravesites populated primarily with minorities. It ignited the idea for a project, bigger than himself and his personal interests, to restore tombstones that needed extra care.

It can be easy to let the memories of those who’ve graced this earth before us drift away in the thoughts of yesteryear, especially with no living or identified relatives to preserve their remembrance.

But Grace Hammel, one of the Florida State University graduate students who has been assisting Wright with this restoration project, says that it is important to recognize those who helped build this beloved city from the ground up.

“I think it’s kind of easy to forget that Tallahassee is the way that it is because of the people who came before us,” Hammel said. The 29 year-old is pursing her master's degree in bio-medical sciences at FSU's College of Medicine.

“You know, we talk about having a voice for the voiceless and working for those that have been forgotten. Generations pass by and unfortunately they might end up having situations where there is no family left to take care of these memorials.”

Like Wright, Hammel’s interest in preserving cemeteries began during her formative years with her mother, who also took an interest in tombstone restoration.

Several years after moving to Tallahassee from her hometown in Eyota, Minnesota, Hammel decided to reintegrate herself with her childhood interests in preserving history by reaching out to the Tallahassee Historical Society in 2022.

She connected with Wright, who is a prominent member. Wright extended the offer for Hammel and her boyfriend, William Oaks, to join him on his missions to clean tombstones.

“These are the moms, and the dads, and the kids, who made up Tallahassee and made it what it is,” Hammel said.

With this year’s goal of restoring 200 tombstones, the group has seen themselves cleaning almost 20 in one outing and visiting cemeteries and gravesites more frequently than in previous years. Wright pays for cleaning products out of pocket, specifically for D2, priced at $240 for five gallons that can last up to a year when used sparingly.

This cleaning solution seeps into stones and kills the microorganisms causing discoloration, a process that could take up to two months to complete, depending on how stained the stones are.

While Wright has been actively restoring headstones for several years now, he’s had the opportunity to connect with groups like the Central Florida Cemetery Project, established in 2019 and led by Jennifer Eve.

Eve, who by day works as a senior sales administrator for the American Automobile Association, started the Central Florida Cemetery Project with a group of other like-minded genealogists with the intention of cleaning trash at local gravesites.

After seeing how poorly some tombstones were cared for, the group expanded its reach to headstone restoration. Eve earned her certification from the Florida Public Archeology Network through their Cemetery Resource Protection Training.

In 2021, Wright reached out to Eve and her team for assistance in recovering the Daniel Lynes headstone, the city’s oldest known tombstone. Eve was the only person in Florida certified as a sculptor specialized in restoring headstones. Wright needed her expertise to return Lynes' headstone to its whole state, after being fragmented into three pieces.

More: Now broken, the oldest gravestone in Tallahassee's oldest cemetery will be made whole again

During their visit to Tallahassee, the Central Florida Cemetery Project cleaned and restored about a dozen tombstones.

“It’s so important,” Eve said. “We’re restoring respect to those who came before us. It’s important for people to have a place to come back to, and for people to visit their families and ancestors. They’re the reason we’re here.”

Here in Tallahassee Wright and his team will continue their cleaning and restoration efforts this Memorial Day. For more information and ways to donate, visit tallahasseehistoricalsociety.org.

Democrat writer Mycah Brown can be reached at MJBrown@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Tallahassee man's goal? Restore 200 tombstones for city's bicentennial