Mark Treinen|Wausau Daily Herald
Note: Updated with a new estimate of the number of damaged sites, to add information about a fundraiser, and clarify that the vandalism affected two adjacent cemeteries.
MERRILL - Whoever tipped and smashed the gravestone couldn't have known Therese J. Andrews or the care her loved ones took to engrave just the right words on the monument.
"Dearest loved one," the engraving says,"thou hast left us and thy loss we deeply feel. But 'tis God that has bereft us and he can allour sorrows heal."
Andrews died on Feb. 22, 1879, at the age of 32 years, 5 months and 11 days, as the grave marker notes.
It was 139 years, 5 months and six days later that someone tore through the adjacent Merrill Memorial Parkand St. Francis Catholic Church cemeteries, pushing or kicking over an estimated 116 gravestones in what appeared to be a random act of vandalism.
Police believe it happened Friday night because the damage was discovered Saturday morning. As of Monday, Merrill Police ChiefCorey Bennett reported having no suspects and no substantially credible leads.
The number of damaged grave sites was initially estimated at 114 over the weekend, but Bennett raised that number to 116.
The vandalism "is extensive to say the least and it will take a long time to document the damage, contact family, re-set what can be and possibly repair what needs to be," the Merrill Police Department posted on its Facebook page. "At this time we are asking you to leave the affected stones where they are until further coordination can be done with cemetery management and the professionals can help with the proper and safe moving of the stone."
Officers continued to patrol the cemetery on Sunday as loved ones wandered among the grave sites, checking for damage and shaking their heads in disbelief.
Ernestine Boettcher's great-great granddaughter Susan Kroeplin, of Wausau, was among the living, visiting her relatives' resting places on Sunday.
But Ernestine's stone, bleached white since it was placed there in 1893, was lying face down in the grass, cracked clean in half. Kroeplin tried to lift it, but even half the stone was too heavy.
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"Don't they have anything better to do," Kroeplin asked of the vandals, whoever they are, or for whatever reason they targeted the cemetery. "It hurts the relatives who are here to visit. To see something like this, it makes no sense."
"It's just devastating."
The vandals didn't know Ernestine Boettcher, either, or they would have known a woman who raised 11 children on her own in the town of Pine River after immigrating from Germany. Her husband had brought her to Lincoln County but returned to Germany, where he died, according to cemetery records.
The culprits may not have known Dorothy Gennrich, who lived to see her 100th birthday before she died in December 2016. Dorothy shared a headstone with her husband, Arnold, who preceded her in death in 2010. It was one of the newest grave-sites the vandals targeted.
"Dorothy had been a sales clerk at the former Peterman's Department Store in Merrill. In 1956 she became a full time homemaker taking care of her husband, their newborn son, and her home," according to her obituary in the Wausau Daily Herald.
Dorothy Gennrich also was a Chicago Cubs fan, the obit says, and when her beloved team won the World Series in the fall of 2016, her son Bud whispered the good news in her ear. "And he is confident she understood," it says.
Officers marked the Gennrich gravestone, and each damaged site, with a wooden stake, painted blaze orange at the tip. Itcreated a striking visual of the swath of vandalism through the cemetery.
Most ofSt. Francis Catholic Church Cemetery and the easternmost section of Merrill Memorial Park were untouched. But not many other sections were spared.
In its Facebook post, Merrill police asked that anyone with information come forward to an officer or report to Crime Stoppers of Lincoln County. Tips can be reported three ways:
- App: Download P3 Tips.
- Online: www.p3tips.com
- Phone: 715-536-3726
Meantime, community members are raising money to help families pay for repairs. An online GoFundMe.com campaignstarted Saturday evening by resident Eric Ott had raised just over $2,000 as of Monday afternoon.
Bennett, the police chief, estimated damages could be in the tens of thousands of dollars and possibly over $100,000.
