Went to cemetary today to visit my husband's and father's gravesites. It was 2:30 pm and the office was closed. I want someone to tell me how often the grounds are mowed and trimmed. Also, walking on the grounds is like walking thru sand, some good topsoil and new grass would be a big improvement. I also want to know what their office hours are so that some service could be provided. Terrible way to run a business.

I would like to share the experience that happened to me. I went to Sarasota Memorial Park today, February 6th, to visit my father on his birthday. My father passed away in 2006 and we had him buried at SMP. As I entered, the place was deplorable. The office was closed, yet it was 10 AM, and the only person at the site, a grounds keeper NOT attending to anything aside from his cigarette, explained he had no knowledge of why the office was closed. "They SHOULD be open, but no one told me why they aren't."

I asked him if he could help me find my father's grave plot as it has been several years since I visited. He shrugged his shoulders and told me no and that was the responsibility of the (nonexistant) office worker.

After driving around, I approached the worker again and let him know that a homeless person had set up camp near the section I believed my father was in, and that I did not feel comfortable approaching that area to look for the plot. The worker said he would get someone on it. After 20 minutes of looking for my father and not locating him, I realized no one had handled the homeless man. I called Sheriff's office myself and within 10 minutes two police officers came to remove the vagrant. This was not the experience I was expecting when I set out to have a personal remembrance of my father. I do not know what has happened to the management and upkeep of this facility in the past eight years, but something needs to change.

As a side note, an office woman finally showed up 40 minutes after the cops (most likely after she heard the voicemail I left on the telephone number listed on the door). She aggressively apologized stating her mother just passed away and that she was in the process of flying up north. I do apologize for lack of sympathy (mainly because I believe she was lying to overshine the obvious mistakes and neglect) but a woman in a position that handles death all day long should have a better ability to manage her business life and a death in her own family better.