May they, now, finally rest in peace.

Thirteen months after Mississippi Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann traveled to Lauderdale County Chancery Court to address missing perpetual care funds, missing grave markers and neglected care at Magnolia Cemetery and Meridian Memorial Park, the cemeteries have been delivered into the hands of new management.

Hosemann announced Thursday that Perpetuation, LLC, owned by Jay Lowry Crane, would take over the cemeteries from William Arlinghaus, ending a trail through courts and negotiations that included threats of jail and a contempt of court judgment against Arlinghaus.

More so, the sale promises to end an ordeal for families with loved ones buried in those cemeteries, many of whom have been hauling their lawnmowers to the cemeteries and dropping to their knees to pull weeds from around grave markers.

No issue in Meridian has raised anger in the last year more than neglect of these cemeteries and the disrespect shown to the dead.

“Understandably, this has been a stressful situation for the many people who have loved ones buried in Magnolia Cemetery and Meridian Memorial Park,” Hosemann said in a statement. “The State is hopeful these sacred places are now in hands which will properly honor the memories of the Mississippians who lay to rest there.”

As Sidney Covington, who has family in both cemeteries, told The Meridian Star’s Whitney Downard: “That’s Meridian’s family tree out there.”

Hosemann said consumers will be financially restored through the sale agreement, but most would say they are equally relieved that their loved ones will be cared for again.

The Star applauds Hosemann’s persistence in helping to achieve satisfaction for cemetery lot owners and relatives and friends of those buried in the cemeteries.

Sadly, if you drive through the countryside — and on city streets — you will find other grossly neglected cemeteries in worse shape than Magnolia and Memorial Park. Two examples are St. Luke’s Cemetery on 10th Avenue in Meridian and Old Springs Cemetery in Lauderdale. Management of both is difficult to determine after some records apparently were lost to a fire and others to time.

Hosemann told The Star in April his office was limited to jurisdiction over cemeteries that continue to sell burial plots and services. Only four cemeteries in Lauderdale County meet that requirement.

That restriction and lack of any other mechanism to remedy neglect at other cemeteries is unfortunate.

Former Meridian resident Ginny Shurlds, now of Slidell, Louisiana, whose father and grandparents are buried at Magnolia, wrote to us this week about a solution found in July by the Opp, Alabama, City Council as reported by the Andalusia Star-News.

The Opp City Council established a cemetery rehabilitation authority to oversee the maintenance of abandoned cemeteries in the cities. The authority can accept help from private citizens and donations for the private upkeep and restoration of cemeteries designated as neglected or abandoned, according to the Star-News. It can also contract to provide services to restore, rehabilitate and maintain the properties, the newspaper reported.

Previously Lauderdale County was able to take over maintenance of the 10th Avenue Masonic Cemeteries near St. Luke’s after it became an historical site.

There are creative ways to address these problems.

We encourage the city of Meridian, Lauderdale County, the state of Mississippi and community organizations to find a solution for other neglected cemeteries so all can rest in peace.