SAN ANTONIO – Dealing with the loss of a loved one is hard enough, but knowing someone robbed their gravesite is an extra blow. That's what one local family says they're dealing with after it appears someone stole a handmade wreath right off of a headstone at Fort Sam Houston Cemetery.
"Mom was fun-loving, spunky, didn't back down from a dare anyone would give her. She was great,” said Terre Figueroa, who flashed a bittersweet smile when talking about her mother, Estella Ramirez, who died last year.
“Unfortunately, she got dementia in the later part of her years, and we started to lose mom as we knew mom was,” Figueroa said.
About 10 days ago, Figueroa decided to make a wreath to put at her mother's headstone.
“It felt better to give her a part of me and my talents,” Figueroa said.
The gesture also gave Figueroa’s father, Enrique Ramirez, something refreshing to look forward to.
“I go to the cemetery and visit her every day if I can,” Ramirez said.
The couple had been married for nearly six decades.
“She stuck right by me, side by side with me. We never got mad,” Ramirez said
The retired Army veteran was shocked when he went to Fort Sam Houston Cemetery to visit his wife's final resting place and noticed the wreath was gone.
“It's a horrible thing to do to go steal from the dead, but it happens.” Ramirez said, adding it’s not the first time this has happened. “My sister's husband is there, about 100 yards from my wife, and she's lost a couple of sets of flowers.”
Through the losses, the family holds no anger toward whoever is responsible. Instead, they hope the stolen items serve the thieves well.
“Don't bring it back. Just go ahead and cherish what they took,” Ramirez said.
“Maybe somewhere they can find their own heart and soul and fix it,” Figueroa said.
KSAT 12 reached out to Fort Sam Houston for comment, but they have not gotten back to us.
The family says they aren't blaming any of the employees for what happened, and they will be placing another handmade wreath at the gravesite.