Sometimes, timing is everything, and it certainly was a well-timed decision by Douglas County District Judge Robert Fairchild to place control of Lawrence’s troubled Memorial Park Cemetery in city hands just days before the Memorial Day holiday.

The action gave the city a few days to mow, trim and make the cemetery respectable for the holiday that brings people across the country to cemeteries to pay their respects to relatives and honor those who have died in service to our country. Even City Manager Mike Wildgen jumped on a mower Wednesday in an effort to take care of some of the maintenance that had been neglected by cemetery owners and drawn many complaints from people with relatives buried at Memorial Park.

Fairchild temporarily transferred control of Memorial Park to the city of Lawrence on Wednesday after receiving a lawsuit filed early last week by the Kansas Attorney General’s Office claiming that Mike Graham & Associates, the Houston-based owners of Memorial Park, had abandoned the property. A similar lawsuit was filed in Shawnee County District Court in regard to Topeka’s West Lawn Memorial Gardens Cemetery, but by Friday no action had been taken on that case. Again, timing was everything. Fairchild’s quick action made it possible to substantially improve the Memorial Park landscape before families came to visit this weekend. Those with relatives buried in the Topeka cemetery apparently will not be so fortunate.

The problems at Memorial Park had been festering for months. Families began to complain about maintenance issues, and, to their credit, local and state officials responded to their concern. The lawsuit against Mike Graham & Associates focuses mostly on financial improprieties such as refusing to submit to an audit and failing to properly establish and maintain an ongoing upkeep fund for the cemetery. Failure to provide proper maintenance and respond to family members also were cited as violations of the Kansas Consumer Protection Act.

For some time, it had seemed that the city taking over the cemetery was the best way to ensure it would be properly maintained over the long term. City officials had said they were willing to take that step, but had expressed reservations about adding that financial responsibility to the city. Wildgen also noted last week that “cemeteries don’t make money” and operation of Memorial Park likely would require city subsidies. Most residents would be willing to provide modest subsidies for a well-maintained city cemetery, but perhaps the city shouldn’t accept that situation too easily. Many private cemeteries obviously do make a profit, and the city may be able to find a way to at least break even on the Memorial Park operation.

Those issues will have to be worked out, but for the short term, city officials and workers deserve kudos for their quick action to prepare Memorial Park for the weekend. It’s another reminder of the kind of caring community Lawrence is.