Two Hillside Cemetery tombstones found in Willis

Two gravestones more than 100 years old were placed at the “Willis, Est. 1887” sign on Willis Road east of the railroad tracks in Augusta Township, with two small American flags.
One headstone was for George Quirk with a Masonic emblem, 1842-1919. The other was for Rusha Quirk, 1843-1907, with an Eastern Star emblem.
Augusta Township resident Brian Shelby wanted these misplaced stones to be where they belonged and so he called the Belleville Police Department. They told him to call Van Buren Township Police and VBT told him to call Sumpter Township Police and Sumpter told him to call Belleville.
A friend looked online at a Find A Grave site and said they belonged in Belleville’s Hillside Cemetery. In 2015 they were replaced with a new, double headstone. He called Belleville again and he said they told him the DPW would be out to pick up the headstones.
Shelby said the old headstones shouldn’t be tossed out like trash, but perhaps buried at the gravesites where they came from. After Belleville picked up the headstones, a man said they stole the headstones from where he had placed them to be honored. He said he got the old stones from the company that made and replaced them which was going out of business. He wants them back.