PORTSMOUTH- This fall, local veterans, Gary and Kelly O’Rourke June, recently passed a major milestone in their quest to clean every veterans headstone in Greenlawn Cemetery. On September 7, 2023, the Junes cleaned 1,000 marble or granite headstones.

Kelly O’Rourke June just smiled and continued working when it was discovered the milestone had been met, “We are so blessed to be able to give back and show our appreciation to our fellow veterans.” June added this was “just a small way they could make a difference.”

Much of the work was painstakingly completed over the very warm summer months and would require the Junes transport water to areas of the cemetery where water was not readily available.

The husband-and-wife team has a goal to clean each of the more than 3,500 monuments on the 40-acre Greenlawn cemetery site. One of their projects was to complete the 350-plus monuments in Soldier’s Circle.

Gary June explained the endeavor started when Kelly had been visiting the gravesites of her family members while researching ancestry. “She noticed how they had accumulated dirt and moss over the years. She decided to clean some and when she finished, the headstones looked really nice.”

“It was then that we thought how badly some military stones looked and we decided to clean as many as we could in honor of our fellow military heroes. God has blessed us in so many ways and it is truly satisfying to be able to do this.”

Kelly even provided a tutorial how to properly clean the veteran’s monuments on her Facebook page and you will often find them giving instruction to individual who see them working onsite and have questions.

The Junes also added how the Friends of Greenlawn Cemetery Foundation had supported their efforts by providing the D-2 cleaning solution recommended by the National Parks Service to property clean the veteran’s stones.

The upright granite or marble headstones are provided free of charge by the Department of Veterans Affairs to any deceased eligible veteran. The marble or granite upright monuments are 24 inches tall, 4 inches thick, 13 inches wide and weigh approximately 230 pounds.