The parents of a pupil who died while playing rounders at his school want to put up a headstone on his grave of his favourite cartoon character, Bart Simpson.
Charlie Morettes, eight, died due to sudden death syndrome in May last year.
His mum Allison and stepfather Tony Spalding, however, are being frustrated by opposition to putting up the 21in granite model of The Simpsons character in the graveyard at St John the Baptist Church, Sutton-at-Hone.
Mrs Spalding, 33, of Cedar Drive, Sutton-at-Hone, said: "It is what Charlie would have wanted. He was so full of life, like Bart Simpson, so it is a fitting memorial."
Permission to put up the headstone was needed from Sutton-at-Hone and Hawley Parish Council, which owns the graveyard.
But at a meeting of the parish council on April 17, one councillor voted against the memorial.
advertisement
This led to a consultation with residents being held, at which four written objections were submitted.
Mrs Spalding believes the people who objected have misunderstood her intentions.
She said: "People seem to think the memorial will be bright yellow and garish, but actually it will be the same granite colour as the headstone.
"We're not trying to be disruptive or sacrilegious, we just want to do something to reflect our son's character.
"The objections are very frustrating."
Mrs Spalding says it was decided to have Charlie buried at the church because the family are members and he loved going there.
She also claims the church uses a Simpsons-themed book commissioned by the Church of England in its Sunday school sessions.
Mrs Spalding, who has two daughters, one aged five and the other 10 months, says this shows the objectors to the headstone are being hypocritical.
The parish council's consultation period ended on Friday and a decision on the headstone will be made at a meeting on May 13 or June 19.
Council chairman Councillor Chris Armstrong said: "This is an emotionally charged issue which has placed the parish council in a very difficult position, with an extremely hard decision to make."
He added: "Some people feel it's not appropriate for consecrated ground in a churchyard."
Posted by: Eileen, CT, U.S.A. on 3:47pm Fri 9 May 08
What is wrong with this world is... That the real things that mean the most to people never become, It is a Headstone for a young lad, is there to be that much controversy over something the parents want for a child who had loved something so much that all of the world has to decide yes or no !! This world was given to us to live as the one creater lived, free, untill. Who are these people who can judge what is right or wrong or what you should or should not have. No one will see this stone other than the family themselves, Is this to really be a problem? Come on, Let it be and let them have what made their child Happy, is that so wrong? My Blessing goes to this family and I say yes to this stone.
Sincerely
Eileen in the U.S.
What is wrong with this world is... That the real things that mean the most to people never become, It is a Headstone for a young lad, is there to be that much controversy over something the parents want for a child who had loved something so much that all of the world has to decide yes or no !! This world was given to us to live as the one creater lived, free, untill. Who are these people who can judge what is right or wrong or what you should or should not have. No one will see this stone other than the family themselves, Is this to really be a problem? Come on, Let it be and let them have what made their child Happy, is that so wrong? My Blessing goes to this family and I say yes to this stone.
Sincerely
Eileen in the U.S.
If you liked this article and would like to share it with others on the web who might be searching for good content we've made it easy for you to do it.
At the bottom of all articles, you'll see links to six sites. These sites - commonly called 'social bookmark' or 'social news' sites - have large communities of web users who share and rate interesting, useful and fun things on the web.
Clicking the links will automatically add the address of the story you are reading to one of these sites, letting you share it with others. Each site will ask you to register to share stories. Registration is free and once a member, you can store, recommend and search for stories that interest you.
Print
Email this
Comment
