|
Welcome
Taphophilia (dot) Com...
A repository of morbid curiosities:
Thanatology and Taphophile Issues, Cemetery,
Funeral Industry and Death Related News.
A Taphophilia Thank You...
Taphophilia (dot) Com would not be possible without the knowledge, experience and talent of DarkestWeb. From its conception and early development, DarkestWeb was faced with many challenges; from inspiring and motivating, to providing guidance and direction. The continued dedication and support has produced results greater than ever expected, and for this, I owe a huge debt of gratitude.
Announcements
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!
Green-Wood Cemetery Arcadia Publishing announces the release of Alexandra Mosca's 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 and to browse other available titles!
Men of Mortuaries Calendar
To purchase your 2008 calendar, learn more about the KAMMCARES Foundation, or to be featured in the 2009 calendar, please visit Men of Mortuaries.
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, Indiana's remarkable cemetery sculpture
with photography by John Bower and foreword by Claude Cookman 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.
|
|
Flawed burial claimed in suit |
|
|
|
|
Written by DeadGirl
|
|
Wednesday, 15 December 2004 |
Two sisters contend that the interment of their mother was improperly handled
By BENJAMIN NIOLET, Staff Writer
DURHAM -- Two sisters have sued a cemetery, saying they discovered their mother's crypt was leaking and then saw employees using a power washer to clean the disinterred casket.
In a lawsuit filed Monday, Shari Heil and Terri Watkins are seeking money for emotional distress and other damages they say are caused by Oak Grove Memorial Gardens, a cemetery on Cheek Road.
"Both Mrs. Watkins and Mrs. Heil have endured great suffering, and they're glad now to just have their day in court," said Durham lawyer David B. Alexander, who is representing the sisters in the lawsuit.
Boscoe Fulcher, the vice president of Woodlawn Memorial Gardens and general manager of Oak Grove Memorial Gardens, could not be reached.
On Nov. 12, 2000, Faye Beddingfield died after a long illness. She was 60. Her daughters signed a contract with Woodlawn to bury her at Oak Grove. They paid the cemetery $11,729 for Beddingfield's crypt and one for their father, according to the lawsuit.
In October 2003, Heil returned to the grave to commemorate the third anniversary of the death. That's when she and her 9-year-old son stepped in a puddle of fluid in front of the grave, the lawsuit said.
A few days later, Watkins went to the mausoleum and saw that two maintenance workers had disinterred the casket and were power washing it and the inside of the crypt. When she demanded an explanation, a cemetery employee explained that the casket was leaking and people were complaining of the smell, the lawsuit said.
The workers resealed the crypt with caulk and tape. Two days later, the crypt was again leaking, the lawsuit said. A few weeks later, the body had to be removed and placed in a new casket, which was provided by a funeral home. The funeral home also provided a tray for the casket.
That process "entailed having to endure the disinterment of the body in the rusted casket, enduring the horrid odor and seeing flies swarm over their mother's casket," the complaint said.
The family accuses the cemetery of not using a proper bag to seal the casket or of not using a plastic tray under the casket, which would have allowed air to circulate around the casket to prevent rust.
The sisters are seeking money for negligence, emotional distress, unfair and deceptive trade practices, gross negligence, negligent interference with a dead body and punitive damages. The law allows a judge to triple a jury's award for unfair and deceptive trade practices.
In May, a family leaving a funeral noticed Oak Grove employees were about to lower a body into the wrong grave. The mistake was averted. A month earlier, a Durham couple received an award of $210,000 when a jury found Glennview Memorial Park and J&P Memorials liable in a lawsuit in which the couple claimed they did not know where at Glennview their daughter was buried.
Bill Goldston, the lawyer who represented the couple in the Glennview case, is named as co-counsel for Watkins and Heil.
http://newsobserver.com/news/story/1932052p-8285577c.html
|
|
