It's try and maybe try again in Circleville, Pickaway County, Ohio - Or, "What's a Cemetery gotta do to get a good owner?!"- The re-scheduled auction dates are announced - Tuesday, June 30, 2020 and if needed, Tuesday, July 21, 2020 for the sale of Floral Hills Memory Gardens in Walnut Township, Pickaway County, Ohio

First - Let's return and read this "Columbus Dispatch" spotlight article by Holly Zachariah dated April 6, 2016. It provides the history that created the long and sad saga that has become the life stories of both the Floral Hills Memory Gardens near Circleville in Pickaway County; and the Floral Hills Memory Gardens in Ross County.

Their status became "Active yet Abandoned cemeteries" - a category we as Ohioans had not really heard of before. Another applicable term for them could also be: "Active and Orphaned" because they became like children without parents when their same two owners fled the state and turned away from any responsibilities they had for continuing their care.

Moving along to June, 2020:

When the results of an auction will determine how the future unfolds for Floral Hills Memory Gardens in Pickaway County, Ohio.

The Ross County Floral Hills Memory Gardens are due to be granted a Receiver this year, if all goes according to plan. However, at this time there is no update exactly when that will actually take place.

Thus, below are the auction dates announced by the Pickaway County Sheriff's office, re-scheduled from March 3 & 24, 2020, for the sale of Floral Hills Memory Gardens (Cemetery) in Walnut Township, Pickaway County.

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Auction Date & Time:

Tuesday, June 30, 2020

Time: 1:30 p.m.

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Auction location:

The Pickaway County Court House

207 South Court Street

Circleville, Ohio

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If there is no sale, the second auction date is set for:

Tuesday, July 21, 2020

Time: 1:30 p.m.

At the above-mentioned location.

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Case Number: 2019DLT003

Address: Floral Hills Cemetery

City: Circleville

State: Ohio 43113

Parcel Number:

M30-0-004-00-037-00, M30-0-004-00-033-02, M30-0-004-00-048-00, M30-0-004-00-038-00, M30-0-004-00-039-00

Appraised Amount:

Start Bid: $100,853.78

Minimum Deposit: $15,000.00

Attorney Name: Jeffrey A. Catri

Attorney Phone: 740-474-6066

If Floral Hills Memory Gardens in Walnut Township, Pickaway County does not sell after these auctions are held, it's case will go over to the Auditor’s Office where there will be a no minimum bid auction.

Following that, if Floral Hills Memory Gardens still does not sell, there would be no other recourse left but for the Walnut Township Trustees to assume responsibility for it - want it or not.

Thus, such a protracted process put in place to produce an owner for Floral Hills Memory Gardens in Pickaway County could indeed happen.

Ultimately, the Pickaway County Floral Hills Memory Gardens, all those who have connections to it, and those who were interred it - are the big losers who have suffered in one way or another for so long through no fault of their own.

Finally, it is unknown what type of new owner Pickaway County's Floral Hills Memory Gardens will get.  If the cemetery is sold to a for-profit out-of-state corporation that has been struggling to meet its obligations with several complaints made about its handling of other cemeteries it owns in Ohio or elsewhere, more trouble most likely lies ahead.

What's left is for us to ask ourselves, and our lawmakers, to explain how in 2020 it can be that any viable active Ohio cemetery can end up in a state of abandonment and remain so for an undetermined number years? What we do know though is that we can never say thank you enough to the tireless volunteers who regularly maintain such a cemetery until it is bought by a new owner, otherwise there would be little to no hope for it and its future.