Ohio Father’s Elaborate Cemetery Shrine For Dead Son Causes Controversy, Lawsuit

An Ohio father who lost his son in 2011 to an accident hasn’t still come to terms with his loss. However, his method of paying tribute to his young son at the cemetery where he has been laid to rest son hasn’t actually gone well with some local residents, reports WKYC. Navy Veteran Fred Molai lost Adam Molai to a rafting accident in June 2011. Adam was just 23 at that time. Adam was laid to rest at the Standing Rock Cemetery where Fred had initially put up a flower bed. However, as time passed, Molai built more elaborate structures around the grave.

Meanwhile, Molai who visits the cemetery every morning and has been doing so since 2011 says “I’ve been here 971 days in a row, and Adam has been gone 1045 days. I keep tab of it every day because asevery day goes by, I’m closer to him.”

Currently, Molai has put up 8 feet high pedestals atop which he has installed pictures of his dead son. This is what some people in the area seem to have a problem with. Once people from the area saw Fred’s huge 8 feet installations at the cemetery, they complained to him asking him to lower it down. “I have received a letter from them that they want me to lower the picture down,” Molai says. But he seems to be in no mood to back down. He has in fact decided to go to court.

According to Fred, since there is no height limit for standing rocks in the cemetery, he doesn’t think any law is being violated in his case. He also adds that even the current method of tribute he pays to his son feels inadequate to him. “I don’t believe that I’ve done enough. There is no limit what you should do for your child. And the love that I got for Adam, it’s so deep. And I really don’t believe I’ve done enough for him,” he tells WKYC.

While people in the area empathize with Fred’s grief, they add that there has to be limits on what people can do in a shared space like a cemetery. One resident who empathizes with Molai also at the same time adds that the situation would turn chaotic if everyone starts to build huge structures around the grave for their loved ones. The main cause of concern for locals seems to be the marred visibility the high pedestals have caused in the cemetery.

Who do you think is correct in this case? Do you think Fred should be allowed to do whatever he pleases to as a tribute to his dead son or he should be more careful about other people’s opinion as well in a shared space like a cemetery?

[Image via USA Today/AP]