WILLOUGHBY HILLS, Ohio — One woman’s mission has united an entire community behind a common cause. It’s all about to come together just in time for our nation’s big 250th birthday celebration.
A couple of weeks ago, News 5 was honored to welcome Steve and Robbie McKee to our station to meet News 5 anchor Rob Powers and share some of the letters they received from their son, Kyle, before he was killed in a helicopter crash in Egypt. During their time here, Steve shared some of the ways the couple honors Kyle’s memory.
"Another group I’m involved with, they’re restoring a cemetery in Willoughby Hills,” Steve McKee told us. “That is a Revolutionary War and Civil War cemetery.”
We had to see for ourselves. Not only did we find a rich history tucked away in Lake County, but also a determined woman who spent years ensuring the dead buried in that cemetery were treated with the dignity they deserved.
Linda J. O’Brien is the founder of Liberty Camp USA, where kids can learn about the Revolutionary War and the founding of our country.
“I love America,” she said, choking up. It was someone she knew through camp who told her about Chardon Road Cemetery in Willoughby Hills.
Tucked between a commercial building and two homes, the cemetery was in bad shape. It was overgrown with weeds. Headstones, thick with the grime of centuries passing, were toppled and out of place.
At first, O’Brien tried to clean them up herself.
“The second one that I was going to clean, it was Edward’s,” O’Brien said. She was referring to Edward Halston, a soldier who fought in the Revolutionary War. The very war she teaches kids about at her camp. It took hours to clean the fronts of two stones that day. She knew this job was bigger than her and called Stonehugger Cemetery Restoration. It was going to cost $50,000.
“That’s where the Men of Honor came into play,” O’Brien said, referring to the group McKee is a part of.
Edward Jones is the chairman of the Men of Honor Foundation, describing the group as “a men’s social club.”
O’Brien had heard of them before. Men of Honor did some work at another cemetery in Lake County. She was telling a friend all about it at dinner.
“My friend says, ‘Right there is one of the men of honor,’” O’Brien said.
Just like that, she was in. The group began fundraising for her cause, hosting raffles and connecting with community donors. This mission became personal for everyone who got involved.
“The first time I came out here was really sobering,” said Jones. The teamwork didn't stop there. The cemetery needed a new fence. That’s when Bob Sparent got the call.
“They knew right away, as soon as they needed a fence, he wanted to bring me involved with the project,” Sparent said.
Sparent is the owner of Shannon Fence and a childhood friend of one of the Men of Honor members. He’s providing the cemetery's fencing free of charge.
“It’s going to be meant to simulate a true wrought-iron fence which would have been done 200 years ago,” Sparent said.
Sparent also arranged for a new sign for the space from a fabricator in Middlefield.
All of this, because one woman was inspired to do better for those who came before us.
"These people, they sacrificed their lives, their families, they had tremendous struggles,” O’Brien said, standing amid the final resting places of some 70 people. “They made this country. They made what we now call Willoughby Hills.”
O’Brien stumbled upon that soldier’s grave when she showed up with a cleaning solution, a scrub brush, and a healthy dose of determination.
She connected with Stonehugger when someone was already planning a trip to northeast Ohio to look for an ancestor’s grave site in Willoughby.
And, she found a Man of Honor at dinner, right when she needed one.
“Yeah, what a coincidence, huh?” O’Brien said with a smile. “I don’t believe in coincidences.”
No, this was no coincidence. O’Brien says it was something much bigger that brought all these people together to serve a common purpose.
“It has to be God,” O’Brien said with a laugh.
No matter how or why the stars aligned behind this cause, the project O’Brien started three years ago is about to wrap up just as Americans celebrate this country’s 250th birthday. The fully restored Chardon Road Cemetery will be unveiled in a ceremony on June 15, complete with a new headstone provided by the V.A. for that soldier.
They haven’t quite reached their fundraising goal for this project yet. If you’re interested in donating, you can do so by CLICKING HERE.
We’re so thankful to Steve McKee for letting us know about the work happening in Willoughby Hills. His story was part of our Memorial Day Your Service Special; you can watch it by CLICKING HERE.
If there’s a story of service you want to let Rob know about, you can email him at Rob.Powers@WEWS.com.
