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What's New at Arcadia
Historic Burial Grounds of the New Hampshire Seacoast By Glenn A. Knoblock
Arcadia Publishing has releases a new title in the Images of America series, the historic account of the cemeteries along the New Hampshire Seacoast. This collection is a must for anyone interested in local history, genealogy, or colonial-era art. Please visit Arcadia Publishing to purchase your copy of Historic Burial Grounds of the New Hampshire Seacoast and browse other cemetery books!
Green-Wood Cemetery By Alexandra Mosca
Arcadia Publishing announces the release of the historic account of one of New York's most famous cemeteries. Aracdia Publishing's Images of America series has an extensive catalog of many cemetery publications! Please visit Arcadia Publishing to purchase your copy of Green-Wood Cemetery.
Announcements
Quoting Death in Early Modern England: The Poetics of Epitaphs Beyond the Tomb By Scott L. Newstok
An innovative study of the Renaissance practice of making epitaphic gestures within other English genres. A poetics of quotation uncovers the ways in which writers including Shakespeare, Marlowe, Holinshed, Sidney, Jonson, Donne, and Elizabeth I have recited these texts within new contexts. Visit Palgrave Macmillan and purchase your copy today!
Living by the Dead By Ellen Ashdown with illustrations by Mary Liz Moody.
A memoir about living beside a cemetery--and about the members of my family who came to rest at Roselawn Cemetery in Tallahassee, Florida. Please visit Kitsune Books for more information.
Graveyards of Chicago: The People, History, Art, and Lore of Cook County Cemeteries By Matt Hucke And Ursula Bielski.
Discover a Chicago That Exists Just Beneath the Surface - About Six Feet Under! Take a tour of Chicago's permanent residents! Please visit the Lake Claremont Press website to purchase your copy of Graveyards of Chicago today!
Epitaphs: The Magazine for Cemetery Lovers By Cemetery Lovers
For information regarding subscriptions, single issues, submission guidelines, deadlines, classifieds or advertising for future issues, please visit The Cemetery Club.
Guardians of the Soul: Angels and Innocents, Mourners and Saints with photography by John Bower and foreword by Claude Cookman
Indiana's remarkable cemetery sculpture is now available. Please visit Studio Indiana for more information.
West Springfield Massachusetts: Stories Carved in Stone by Rusty Clark
Features information on early New England gravestone carvers with more than two hundred photos and illustrations. Please visit the Dog Pond Press website.
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Losing Urn With Ashes Costs Cemetery $812,000 |
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Written by DeadGirl
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Tuesday, 06 September 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.
SOURCE: SignOnSanDiego.com |
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