In•de•fix•a » burial mistake

Oops – Wrong Body. Again.

Bob — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 18:12:01 +0000

The Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s office made another body error recently.

Now that my new site is up and running, I’m editing my funeral industry posts here at Raven’s Beak to point to their new home at Funeral News Central.

That’s Not My Fritz

Bob — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 17:57:32 +0000

Shrader Funeral Home, in Ballwin, Missouri recently faced every funeral director’s nightmare: they mixed up two bodies.

Now that Funeral News Central is up and running, I’m editing my funeral industry posts here at Raven’s Beak to point to their new home.

Class-action Lawsuit

Bob — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 21:25:40 +0000

In a continuing story from Columbia, Missouri, Warren Funeral Chapel and its owners Harold Warren Sr. and Harold Warren Jr. are facing a possible class-action lawsuit. Plaintiff Kathy Johnson has alleged that Warren FC lost her mother’s remains, and is seeking an exhumation order to determine if her mother is buried in the correct plot at Rock Bridge Cemetery.

In July 2008, State Board of Embalmers and Funeral Directors investigators reported they found bags of organs from multiple bodies in one casket, as well as one body stored in an electrical room more than ten months after death. Investigators also found three other bodies not properly stored or handled.
The State Attorney General has also filed a lawsuit against the Warrens. Here’s more coverage from the Columbia Missourian

Questionable Charges at Missouri Cemetery

Bob — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 00:23:39 +0000

In September, 2007, Jeff Palmore, owner of Bell Funeral Home in St Louis, arranged a burial at Pacific City Cemetery. To save the family the $525 fee the cemetery sexton was charging, he offered to dig the grave himself. Sexton Alan Bruns refused, saying there was a city ordinance that only allowed sextons to dig graves. Palmore researched it, and found there indeed was such an ordinance, but noted it also set the fee at $360, not $525.

Palmore has filed suit against Bruns and the city of Pacific for the overcharge in small claims court. The judge there ruled the city had sovereign immunity; Palmore appealed that decision, and added a claim for punitive damages, alleging overcharging for burials, selling people grave spaces they already own and digging up and disposing of dead bodies, all with the tacit approval of the city.

It’s been a contentious time since then, with an argument during a funeral where the police were called. The city administrator is siding with Bruns, a fourth-generation sexton. No court date has been set for the new case.

Adult? 2-Year-old?

Bob — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 21:34:32 +0000

How come no one at the funeral home said “Gee, doesn’t this body seem kind of tall for a 2-year-old?” How come the mortuary transportation service didn’t notice the same issue?

Wasn’t someone paying attention here?

It’s good that the state is picking up the tab for fixing the error, but it seems like both the mortuary transportation service and the funeral home had the chance to catch the error, and missed.