Rarely will you see a more devoted pair than this husband and his son.
The son’s mother — his father’s wife of 43 years — died of a heart attack three years ago.
Almost every day since, the two have taken the time to visit her grave in Holy Cross Cemetery, the 82-acre expanse that straddles the Akron-Coventry Township line.
“There’s not a day that goes by that we don’t miss Mom,” says David Dobo, 45, standing in the cemetery on a warm evening last week.
“We’re still in mourning. That’s why we come every day — literally. Rain or shine. Even in the wintertime. If we can’t walk to her grave [because of heavy snow], we stop on the roadside and say a prayer.
“It’s part of our way of mourning her. And it hurts us to see this.”
He is referring to a huge influx of traffic in the cemetery, most of it having nothing to do with mourning. The attraction: Pokemon Go.
As you probably know by now, Pokemon Go is a game played on smartphones in which participants travel to real-life locations to collect Pokemon objects, which appear electronically on the smartphone user’s camera. The game became outrageously popular about a millisecond after it was released 2½ weeks ago.
Holy Cross is a “Pokestop” — a place where players can capture stuff. And the Pokemon Go players are ruining the atmosphere for people who view Holy Cross with reverence.
“We think it’s a disgrace that people are using the cemetery as a game,” David says.
“We’re Catholics. We consider this to be consecrated, sacred ground. This is where our loved ones are buried.
“All we’re asking for is some decorum and dignity. You wouldn’t have a Frisbee tournament in a cemetery, so you shouldn’t have a Pokemon game in a cemetery.”
The problem started about a week after the game was released, David says.
“Normally when you come out in the evenings, it’s just us. Now we see all kinds of cars cycling through. We’ve seen people on bikes. We’ve seen people walking across graves.”
Playing a game
Adds his 85-year-old father, Joseph: “The other day, there were four boys, about 18-20, walking along that upper road with their toys in their face, and a fifth one was walking among the markers — over graves — looking for these things they’re supposed to capture.
“They’re not out here to visit family; they’re out here playing a game.”
The Dobos have a large, elaborate family headstone, with spaces reserved for Joe and David on either side of their wife/mother, Mary Beth. The handsome stone is not only perpetually draped with flowers but has small, solar-powered lights to serve as Mary Beth’s night light.
Joe says his wife “was my little sweetheart. Always will be. … She’s a little angel. She lived her life like that. Soft person, never a bad word for anybody.”
When I was there, nobody was stomping across graves, but a steady parade of cars was snaking through, and none of the occupants appeared to be searching for a grave site.
In rapid succession: a small red Honda filled with people — a mom and a bunch of kids — moving quickly. A silver Chrysler moving slowly. A black Ford with darkened windows, stopping and starting and frequently changing course, followed immediately by a light-green Subaru SUV. And so on.
Says David: “There was a family that dropped one of their kids off, and he was just walking through with a big smile on his face, with his phone up, walking across graves. I thought, ‘That’s the last straw. We’ve got to do something.’ ”
What they did was call the cemetery’s management, then the Catholic Cemeteries Association of the Cleveland Diocese, then their favorite columnist.
The diocese’s law firm sent a threatening letter last week to the Pokemon Co. and software developer Niantic requesting the Pokestop be removed by July 29. If it isn’t, the letter said, their client “may pursue available legal remedies necessary to prevent further interference with its rights.”
Trouble elsewhere
Complaints have been flowing into the company from plenty of other places, including the Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C., and Arlington National Cemetery. Thus far, the people responsible for the game haven’t eliminated any Pokestops, which is discouraging.
But the public should already realize there are places Pokemon Go just shouldn’t go.
The Dobos are not cranky old folks yelling, “Get off my lawn” at harmless kids. These are highly religious people who cherish the memory of their relatives and have drawn great comfort in knowing their deceased have been resting in peace.
If you’re a Pokemon Go player, please give some thought to the real world while you’re chasing your Magmars and Weedles and Seels.
Bob Dyer can be reached at 330-996-3580 or bdyer@thebeaconjournal.com. He also is on Facebook at www.facebook.com/bob.dyer.31.