FRANKLIN TWP — Most 94-year-olds are not doing heavy work outdoors.

However, Jim Davis of Center Township regularly maintains an old cemetery on his family's former property in Moraine State Park during the warm months.

Davis Cemetery is located along North Country Club Road on the far eastern side of the park. A wooden sign marks its location, and Davis thinks it may have been installed by the park.

As far as Davis knows, two people are buried in the cemetery. One is his great-great-uncle, William Davis, who served in the War of 1812. The other is William Davis' son-in-law, Thomas McCall, who served in the Civil War. Death dates for the two are unknown.

“I respect the veterans,” Davis, a World War II veteran, said. “I'm just trying to do my little part to respect them.”

Davis has maintained the cemetery since the late 1960s or early 1970s.

The graves have no conventional stones. William Davis has a plaque on the ground indicating that he was a veteran, as well as an American flag and flowers. Jim Davis is not sure when or who installed the plaque.

McCall's grave is marked by a flag and flowers. Davis put the flowers on the graves and he replaces the flags as they need to be replaced.

During the spring and summer, he comes every two weeks or so and cuts the grass.

“Whenever the grass is growing. Or the weeds,” Davis said.

When he is done using the mower, he trims the edges with a hand tool and brushes off William Davis' plaque.

The Davis family were very early settlers of the township in the 1700s.

Before the park took over the land, it was owned by Merton and Cecelia Davis, Jim Davis' aunt and uncle.

“This was all fields here,” Davis said.

When he was growing up during the Depression, he often would go to his uncle's roughly 140-acre property to work the farmland. This gave his parents one less meal to serve during the day, which helped during the tough economic period.

At the time, most heavy farming was done using horse and buggy.

“They didn't have tractors around here then,” Davis said.

Although the gravel road is not maintained during the winter, Davis said it is in much better shape than when he was growing up and it was dirt and mud.

“This road is much, much better than it used to be,” Davis said.

One time, he went to the cemetery and his mower would not start. He took it to a repair shop and told the worker at the store that he was going to mow a veterans cemetery. Davis said the man stopped what he was doing and fixed the mower for free.

After finishing up his work at the cemetery, Davis often stops by the old spring that used to be on his family's property to get some water to take home.

Davis stays active. He has lived alone since his wife, Maxine, died in 1994 and in addition to maintaining the cemetery, he golfs twice a week.

He said he will continue to work at the cemetery.

“As long as I'm able. Only God knows how long that will be,” Davis said.