Gardner's gift to soldier featured in `Stars & Stripes'

According to a feature in the July 1 edition of Stars & Stripes -- the authorized daily newspaper of the U.S. military community -- Sgt. Reeves, 29, is an emergency operations worker stationed at Grafenwohr, Germany. When his mother died 20 years ago, the family was so destitute they couldn't afford to mark her resting place with a gravestone.

Instead, a small, temporary metal plaque was used.

Reeves said he flew home on leave last year, and drove three hours to the White Salmon Cemetery -- only to realize he couldn't find his mother's grave. All traces of her plot had been lost.

"Those temporary markers don't last long, and this had been 20 years," explained Domonique Krentz.

Reeves said to have his mother's resting place vanish was a tough blow.

"I think of it as going to visit, as a way to touch bases with her again, as a way to talk to her again. And without that, I felt like I couldn't talk to my mom," Reeves was quoted in the Stars & Stripes article.

Reeves resolved to find his mother's grave and have it properly marked. He wrote to Gardner's, which had overseen his mother's burial, and asked if the owners could help.

Gardner's located his mother's plot and ordered a headstone.

The stone is a dappled tan marker with Toni Reeves' name and the inscription, "Forever in our hearts." It is expected to be in place by mid-July.

Reeves said he was surprised when the funeral home offered to donate the $600 stone to Reeves for his service in the military.

"Since you are serving our country and we appreciate your sacrifice and efforts, we would like to provide the headstone at no charge to you," read the note from Gardner's. "Please accept it with our gratitude."

Derek and Domonique Krentz said they just wanted to help a soldier.

"We just kind of looked at each other and said, "We're not going to charge him anything," Derek said. "We were just thinking that here's a young man that's overseas, he doesn't need any more stress in his life. Let's just do it."

Reeves was extremely appreciative of the kind gesture of the Krentz's.

"Acts like this are a rare gesture and need to be passed on to let soldiers know that the American people still care," Reeves wrote in a letter to the funeral home.

Domonique said they didn't expect publicity from their gift.

"We didn't know it was such a big deal," she said. "It just seemed like the right thing to do."

Domonique added that they had no idea Sgt. Reeves was going to contact the Stars & Stripes newspaper.

"That was really nice of him. We've been getting a lot of e-mails," she said.