He lived only a few yards away, but it was hidden beneath vines, shrubs and the decaying leaves of a giant tulip tree. Then, one evening nearly 20 years ago, a neighbor's dog got loose, running into woods across the street.

Lane followed the dog into the thicket. He smacked his head against a marble slab. Glancing around, he saw another stone poking through the weeds. Then another. They were grave markers, with names such as Kuhlmann and Gutermuth, and with dates such as 1883 and 1892.

Lane began clearing away the brush. He cleaned off the headstones and cut down weeds as high as a basketball hoop. And he kept maintaining the property. Over the next 20 years, he became the unofficial caretaker of the Arminia Lodge Cemetery.

But when the Missouri Department of Transportation launched plans to expand Highway 141, the cemetery and Lane's house were in the way. MoDOT worked around the cemetery to avoid having to move it, but Lane's house in Chesterfield fell to the wrecking ball.

Now that he's gone, no one knows who will maintain the cemetery. It's a familiar story in other parts of Chesterfield and the St. Louis region.by the 20th century. And today, family members are more likely to be scattered throughout the country.

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