A monumental undertaking: On Veterans Day, one man’s mission to preserve the graves of veterans and Swift River Valley residents

WARE — Decay drags across the grave markers at the Quabbin Park Cemetery. Lichen and moss fuzz the edges of each stone and obscure the engraved names. Chipped slate plates stick out at a slant or lean on a neighboring marker. The breakdown of the stone itself, called “sugaring,” has morphed some of the oldest stones. Between 1931 and 1932, 34 graves from the Swift River Valley moved to this Ware gravesite off Route 9. The four disincorporated towns of Dana, Enfield, Greenwich and Prescott are now beneath the water of the Quabbin Reservoir, and the residents and their descendants rest among the 7,613 graves at the cemetery. But a couple of bright white marble or shining granite stones jump out among the gray, decrepit headstones. The clean look is the mark of Gene Theroux, a 75-year-old Southbridge resident and Friends of Quabbin president who has dedicated himself to refurbishing the cemetery monuments for the last seven years.

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