MIDLAND COUNTY, Texas — Call it a routine visit. Pat McDaniel comes here often to see his family.
He feels it's his duty to ensure their final resting place looks nice.
"Here's a plot that's been maintained by the family. The county has not been maintaining this plot so that's why it looks as good as it does," Pat McDaniel, Fairview cemetery advocate said.
He wants the county to step up and take care of the Fairview cemetery.
He says it's only right because there's history here. The founders of Midland county are buried here.
"O. B. Holt senior is one of the founding members and one of the first presidents, early presidents of the First National Bank of Midland," McDaniel said.
"It had its beginnings in this location with these people that are here and we don't want their efforts, that what they did to create and develop and sustain Midland county to go for naught," McDaniel said.
So what's the ask?
McDaniel says a good starting place is the water system.
"A lot of times you can't drive down these roads because the irrigation pipes are across the road," McDaniel said.
The system right now requires cemetery staff to move this old aluminum pipe by hand.
"The existing water system on top of my great grandfather's grave and my great aunt's grave," McDaniel said.
He also wants more staff to keep the weeds cut down.
"We appreciate the efforts of all the people that work out here. We know they have a difficult job with limited resources in their budgets, but we believe the county can help some of that along in the future with basic infrastructure in place," McDaniel said. "This is not a bad cemetery, it's a good cemetery for a county cemetery in the state, but it needs a little help and we don't want it to see fall too far behind to where it can't get more help than can be given."
