LOWER BURRELL – The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation has paved over a portion of a 165-year old grave in Westmoreland County,
the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review said.
The PennDOT workers, who were paving the road with an asphalt base, did not realize until later that they may have inadvertently covered the grave of Sarah Ann Kennedy, a 26-year old woman buried in 1841, the newspaper reported. Her grave lies diagonal to Puckerty Church Road in Lower Burrell.
PennDOT workers were stabilizing the shoulder of the road when the mishap took place.
David Enick, senior highway maintenance manager for Westmoreland County, said PennDOT is very sensitive to situations like this. He told the Tribune-Review that church officials may consider having Kennedy’s casket exhumed and moved to another location in the cemetery.
We would be willing to work with the parish in any way, Enick said.