For more than two decades, Juan Rodriguez, 80, has regularly stopped at Montopolis’ San Jose I Cemetery by himself.
He’s replaced the lettering at the historic Mexican cemetery’s gate and trimmed his grandparents’ and siblings’ gravesites. Most recently, in October, he repaired the gateway’s wooden Jesus figure after it tumbled off and split into pieces. He glued the chest and the arms together, repainting them. He carved Jesus a new hand that resembled a dog’s paw and mounted the remade effigy tightly onto the gate pole.
For decades, the sporadic and individual efforts of residents like Rodriguez, many of whom have relatives at the site, kept the unowned and unmanaged cemetery intact. But the earth’s swallow never appeared far away. Sandbur, bull nettle and poison ivy grew plentifully over sprawling ant colonies. Mustang vine leaped from tree to tree, cracking branches over tombstones. Trash mounted. Large tracts were inaccessible and the cemetery’s parameters caved in.
On Saturday morning, under the drizzle of the coming storm, Rodriguez found himself with others. More than two dozen community members — relatives of the deceased, neighbors, Keep Austin Beautiful volunteers brought together by the fledgling San Jose-Montopolis Cemetery Association — hacked at vines, sawed at tree limbs and pushed lawn mowers.