HENDERSON â A change in ownership and a change in practices at Sunset Gardens cemetery has triggered a social-media controversy pitting the families of some of the people buried there against the new owner.
The change happened on Dec. 3, when local businessman Ricky Pearce acquired all the stock of Sunset Gardens Inc., the 59-year-old company that owns the burial ground, its buildings and equipment. Terms of the sale were undisclosed, but a filing with the Vance County register of deeds confirmed that Pearce had taken over the company from its former president, Willard Haithcock.
The deal otherwise came with little fanfare, at least until the warmer weather of spring arrived and it was time to begin mowing the grass.