Monday, October 1, 2012

Former employees of Topeka State Hospital want a permanent reminder of the 1,157 patients who were buried on the grounds of the now-closed hospital.

Two of the employees, Barbara Hauschild and Marlene Shelton, are trying to raise money for a granite marker for the spot where the patients were buried from 1879 to 1954, mostly in unmarked graves.

The new marker will read "Topeka State Hospital Cemetery, 1879-1954."

They want to place the marker in front of two exisiting granite monuments, which contain the patients' names.

The Topeka Capital Journal reports the new marker, which would stand 4 feet tall, would cost about $3,300.

Hauschild says only about 20 of the patients buried at the site had headstones to mark their graves.

The hospital closed in 1997.