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Taphophilia (dot) Com...
A repository of morbid curiosities:
Thanatology and Taphophile Issues, Cemetery,
Funeral Industry and Death Related News.
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Losing urn with ashes costs cemetery $812,000 |
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Written by DeadGirl
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Wednesday, 21 September 2005 |
By Dana Littlefield
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
September 2, 2005
A jury awarded more than $812,000 yesterday to four adult children of a Point Loma family who accused the Holy Cross Catholic Cemetery of losing an urn containing their brother's ashes and failing to promptly notify them.
The San Diego Superior Court jury found that the relatives suffered severe emotional distress because of the cemetery's actions, including the unearthing of their deceased father's casket in a fruitless effort to find the remains.
Gregory G. Brown, the attorney representing the family of Armond Correia, whose ashes were lost, said the monetary award was "reasonable" and a "perfect" amount to punish the Roman Catholic bishop of San Diego and the cemetery for their actions.
Defense attorney Dave Carothers noted that the relatives were awarded far less money than their attorney had asked for. Brown argued in court for economic damages between $600,000 and $800,000 and punitive damages three to four times that amount.
"We have always extended our sympathies to the family," Carothers said outside the courtroom.
Four siblings living in San Diego and Orange counties filed the lawsuit last year after learning that their brother's remains were not buried in a family plot alongside their parents.
Upon their mother's death in 1998, the Correias directed the cemetery staff to dig up the urn containing Armond Correia's ashes and place it inside their mother's coffin.
Armond Correia died Oct. 15, 1985, after a long illness.
His father, Jose Correia, died March 18, 1993, and his mother, Elisa Correia, died Oct. 12, 1998. All were to be buried in two adjoining graves at Holy Cross that the parents had bought in 1966.
Two years after their mother's death, the siblings purchased a $4,500 headstone bearing the names of Jose, Elisa and Armond to be placed at the grave site. At that point, the family still was unaware that their brother's ashes had been lost, according to court documents.
Last year, a groundskeeper at Holy Cross told Mario DeBlasio, the cemetery's general manager, about the missing ashes. He told DeBlasio, "If you don't make things right, I will," according to court documents.
The groundskeeper also said that he and several other workers had been told to dig up Jose Correia's casket in search of the urn. He told DeBlasio that "everybody knew" what happened and had kept it a secret, according to the documents.
Lawyers for Holy Cross contended during the trial that DeBlasio acted quickly and appropriately as soon as he was made aware of the problem. Monsignor Francis Pattison, the cemetery director, sent a letter to the family dated July 19, 2004, offering solutions such as erecting a monument on the property in Armond Correia's honor. The defense lawyers said the family did not respond to the letter and chose to file the lawsuit instead. One defense attorney suggested in his closing arguments that the Correias were "better off" not knowing about their brother's urn.
"I was horrified," Mary Margaret Goddard, one of the plaintiffs, said about the lawyer's comment. "My sister and I could not even hold ourselves together."
Goddard said she feels the monetary award sent a message to the cemetery staff and she hopes it will prevent something like this from happening again.
Her brother, John Correia, echoed her sentiments. He owns a plot at Holy Cross, where he expects to be buried one day.
"My first wife's there, so I have no choice," Correia said.
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/20050902-9999-2m2ashes.html
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Taphophilia?
taphophilia (taf′ō-fil′ē-ă)
ORIGIN:
From the Greek words taphos, meaning "tomb" or "sepulcher" and philia, meaning "attraction or affinity to something, in particular the love or obsession with something"
DEFINITION: 1. An excessive interest in graves and cemeteries. 2. A love or fondness for funerals, graves, and cemeteries. 3. In psychiatry, a morbid attraction to graves and cemeteries
Quote Repository
“Fear no more the heat o' the sun Nor the furious winters' rages; Thou thy worldly task hast done, Home art gone, and ta'en thy wages The sceptre, learning, physic, must All follow this and come to dust.” William Shakespeare - Cymbelin
Shirtless and Sculpted
The Men of Mortuaries 2008 Calendar is now available! All sale proceeds benefit KAMMCARES, a breast cancer foundation.
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