Ohio baby’s grave, blank for 90 years, gets marker
AKRON, Ohio (AP) – An infant’s grave left unmarked for 90 years has a new headstone in northeast Ohio, thanks to relatives who researched their family history.
Several relatives gathered this month at Akron’s Holy Cross Cemetery for a service to bless the marker for the grave of William McKovich, who was born prematurely on November 4, 1923, and died the next day, the Akron Beacon Journal reported.
Relatives found the plot in the cemetery’s infant section after doing some genealogy work about the child.
His nephew, 69-year-old Thomas Koch of nearby Copley Township, said he discovered “a blank spot” at the gravesite.
“He had been here for 90 years, and we felt the least he deserved was some kind of recognition,” Koch told the newspaper.
Several family members decided to split the $500 cost of buying a new headstone. Robin Adair, deacon at Guardian Angels Parish, participated in the blessing ceremony and praised the relatives for showing up to honor the boy’s short life.
Koch, a retired journalist and corporate external affairs director, said he plans to do more genealogy work. Next on his list is finding the grave of his mother’s twin sister, Susan McKovich, who died as an infant in Pennsylvania in June 1914.