Beautifying final resting places for 25 years

 KIRKMAN — High on a hill in Kirkman is the Rose Hill Cemetery. Headstones dating as far back as the 1800s dot the landscape. Amidst the stones are white crosses that point to where veterans are buried.Richard Petersen, 91, of Kirman, has taken care of the property for 25 years.    Each Memorial Day he makes sure the white crosses for the 62 veterans are repainted.“The weed eaters take the paint off,” he said.    If someone is driving through the cemetery and Petersen is there, chances are he can tell them where a grave is located. A large directory is at the front of the cemetery but Petersen knows many by heart.“I take care of all the crosses and put flags on them for Memorial Day,” he said.    Petersen dug the holes for the Avenue of Flags, with 40 large flags.He said he comes to the cemetery every third day depending on what the weather is like.    “I haul water up here to water the flowers,” he said. “I have a two wheel cart with a 200-gallon barrel. Or water jugs in the car.”    There’s a bank of wildflowers on the hill in front of the cemetery. Petersen said he goes into the fields with wildflowers, get the seeds and to try and keep wildflowers coming up on the side of the hill.Petersen said he helped with the fence that was built around the cemetery. He got a donation of $100 from someone he didn’t know in 2017 and the fence was completed in 2018 through donations. He said the fence cost around $20,000.    He does the work voluntarily, but received a tip of sorts.    “I was pulling some weeds and found two brand new pennies on the side of the hill,” he said.    Aside from taking care of the flowers, Petersen also helps with seeding the dirt on a grave after the dirt is filled in.    “I enjoy it,” Petersen said. “Nobody gives me static here.”