BY J.L. Scott
Feb 14, 2004

The state Board of Embalmers and Funeral Directors has suspended for 10 months the operating license of Patterson's Funeral Home. Leroy Patterson, funeral director and owner, was found guilty of unprofessional conduct in the science of embalming and in securing the remains of a deceased person.

The Northside Chapel main office is in Shreveport. The company can accept no further business but will be allowed to complete any pending arrangements until March 1.The Benton and Mansfield branches could remain open if they can obtain independent licenses by March 1. Patterson's license was pulled after Leroy Patterson failed to embalm a body in July within the required 30 hours after death. Winnfield Funeral Home filed a complaint to the state board on behalf of the family.

The incident involved the body of Ethel King of Shreveport, who died July 22. Board attorney Michael Rasch said the body was taken to Winnfield Funeral Home in Shreveport on that day. Her body was picked up for transport to Patterson's the next day. King's remains later were returned to Winnfield Funeral Home at the request of the Rev. Emanuel Griffin, King's nephew.

"She should have been embalmed and Patterson's Funeral Home should have made sure of it," Griffin said. "And one of the biggest problems I had is that Patterson's didn't even have a cooler to keep her body from decomposing."

According to board records, Patterson's representatives gave King's son misleading information that caused him to request a transfer of his mother's remains. Rasch confirmed the body was not embalmed, nor was it kept in a cooling system with a temperature of between 40 and 45 degrees, as required by law.

Repeated phone calls by The Times to Leroy Patterson were not returned.

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