Burr Oak Cemetery| lays Staff off-out of cash-yourfuneralguy

Burr Oak cemetery has laid off it’s staff and is out of cash. One lone  Cook county Sheriff’s vehicle has been seen inside the gate. This is so no authorized people enter the cemetery grounds.

In July 2009 it was discovered that 300 graves were desecrated. Human bones were discarded in piles at the cemetery. Over 50,000 inquiries were filed about deceased relatives who may have been illegally disinterred in the Burr Oak cemetery Scandal.

From  www.dailyherald.com

Roman Szabelski, an appointed receiver of Burr Oak Cemetery in Alsip, said he has not received any of the money he has asked for to operate the cemetery.

Burr Oak’s assets were frozen after four people were charged in the alleged grave-reselling scheme that authorities say stretched back at least five years and netted about $300,000. The cemetery’s remaining employees — six grounds workers and two office workers — were laid off Friday.

The latest news may delay the reopening of the cemetery evenmore. The cemetery remains closed.

The owners of the company Perpetua,  Inc fronted the money for the last payroll. They did not do that this time.

More information on Perpetua, Inc here

You can find out more and get help and more information on  the Burr Oak Cemetery here:

Cook County Sheriff’s website:www.burroak.net

Burr oak cemetery pic from religion dispatches.org

Funeral Industry| Funeral Blog by Your Funeral Guy

Burr Oak Cemetery:2 other Illinois cemeteries licenses revoked-YourFuneralGuy

Burr Oak Cemetery is not the only Cemetery in Illinois to have it’s license revoked. It has happened at two other cemeteries in Illinois.  Mount Hope Cemetery in Bellvue, Il and Valley View Cemetery in Edwardsville, Illinois.

It had been reported(7.16.09) that the cemeteries were shut down. From www.bnd.com

“The comptroller’s office last year reported that more than $300,000 was missing from more than 450 prepaid burial accounts at the two cemeteries. People visiting those buried at the cemeteries have complained about overgrown grass and weeds and damaged headstones.”

The problem with revoking a Cemetery License like Burr Oak Cemetery in Illinois is that there are still burials to be made. Funerals need to happen in a timely fashion.  When a Funeral Home license is revoked the Funeral Home is closed. But when a cemetery license is revoked preneed contracts  are no longer sold   at that cemetery in Illinois.

The preneed contracts on the books  have to be honored. Burials will need to continue at Burr Oak, Mount Hope, and Valley View Cemetery.

A hearing is set for AUG 4th, 2009 By the Illinois Comptroller  to show cause for revocation of license.

Funeral Industry|Funeral Blog by Your Funeral Guy.

Source

Funeral Preneed is Dead Even in the Richest Towns-YourFuneralGuy.

A Preneed Funeral Arrangement is a contract, it is not wise to participate

Funeral preneed is dead and in need of a burial. This is true even in the richest cities and towns. The main reason is that no honest funeral director will say that you can lock in today’s prices 1, 2, or 10 years from now. In the Uncertain economy the pitch given for 30 years in the funeral industry has become a lie.  If a funeral director or preneed specialist(counselor) tells you that prices are “locked in” get up and leave.

Even In the posh suburbs of Chicago Preneed sales are scant.

From  Naperville the plush Chicago Suburb.

“Stephanie Jones-Kastelic, co-owner of Friedrich-Jones Funeral Home, said the number of prepay{PRE NEED} packages purchased is going down.

In previous years, financially well-off couples in their 70s and 80s would come to the funeral home to pre-purchase funeral packages so their children or family would not have to cover the costs. This year, Jones-Kastelic said, she sees very few of those couples, and most of her pre-pay customers are seniors about to go on Medicare who want to spend their own money on the expense, which Medicare does not cover.”-THE NAPERVILLE SUN

The Funeral Preneed Scandals have been massive in the last several years:Illinois Funeral Directors Association  (IFDA up to 100 Million), National Prearranged Services(NPS over 1 Billion), Wade Funeral Home, Burr Oak Cemetery-many more.

Funeral Industry|Funeral Blog by Your Funeral Guy

Source: THE NAPERVILLE SUN and the Funeral Experience of Your Funeral Guy.

Desecrating bodies in Illinois Alsip Cemetery|Preneed and Greed-yourfuneralguy

Sadly Illinois Burial Scandal where up to 300 bodies desecrated.

Discarding  and desecrating bodies and collecting money by reusing graves-This happened at the Burr Oak Cemetery in  the Chicago Area- Alsip, IL. Two words made this happen Preneed and Greed.Reports state that up to 300 bodies have been desecrated.

In the last post entitled Burr Ridge Cemetery Scandal| Could humans have done this?-YourFuneralguy.

One realizes that humans did do this and that their main motivation was greed. The way they pulled it off was through at need and preneed cemetery sales.

There are not tough enough laws in  Illlinois for the selling of  cemetery sites in the State of Illinois. Most sites are sold on a preneed basis. This means that people buy cemetery property before their funeral. Many times a preened insurance policy is used.

Snippet  from the Chicago Tribune:

“Illinois Rep. Dan Brady (R-Bloomington) said today the Alsip cemetery scandal illustrates why the state needs stricter regulations over individuals who sell “the pre-need burial spaces in the state.”

Funeral and Cemetery Preneed  Policies have been a probem in the State of Illinois as mentioned often in this blog. In fact the loss of the two largest  Funeral Corporations in the United States. Service Corporation International and Stewart Enterprises  have had horrible loses in Cemetery Sales.

Those in the Cemetery business are hurting. The people  involved here have taken it upon themselves to hurt others by desecrating graves. This a sad burial scandal.

Funeral Industry|Funeral Blog by Your Funeral Guy

Funeral Director Leaves Body in Basement, 12 years-YourFuneralGuy

Corpse was left in a casket in the basement of Indiana Funeral Home for 12 years istockphoto rf license

A Funeral Director has left a corpse in the basement of a Funeral home for 12 years.  This is flat out disrespect for the dead and humanity. The reason is the funeral director gave for doing the  heinous deed is that he did not get paid.

The life of a human being  dead or alive is more important than money. The highest cost at a funeral is the death of the person involved. There is no excuse for treating a body in this manner. The deceased was left in a casket.

This all went down in Indiana.  Check out the Snippet and click on for more information.

From: news-tribune.net

“On Sept. 2, 1997, 96-year-old Irene Jackson died in Indianapolis, according to coroner records. The woman had family in Southern Indiana, so she was taken to Baity’s Funeral Home at 911 State St. in New Albany. However, her body was not buried until last week.“

Funeral Industry| Funeral Blog by Your Funeral Guy

Batesville Revenue points to Funeral industry Decline-YourFuneralGuy

Batesville Casket Had a 17.1% decline in net income, a bad sign for the funeral business.

The largest casket maker in the United States has posted a 17.1% decline in net income in their 2nd Quarter of 2009. This is another indication of  more decline in the funeral business. (Numbers here do not include litigation costs and spin off adjustments)

Hillenbrand Inc- Batesville Casket Co.

“Kenneth Camp, president and chief executive officer of Hillenbrand, Inc said, “The funeral services industry has experienced a decline in burials that is largely consistent with a mild influenza and pneumonia season, combined with an increase in cremations that may be more pronounced in the current economic environment. There also has been more intense competition in both the casket and cremation businesses.-(rttnews.com)

Excluding costs, net income was $28.6 million, down 17.1% from $34.5 million in the prior yearquarter.-(rttnews.com)

Batesville casket  did post a profit due to the reduction of operations-but operations cannot be reduced forever. A 17.1 decline in net income paints a steep decline in the casket end of the US  funeral industry. Not only was  there more cremation and  less burial , there was a significant  threat to the US funeral industry in the rise of high quality Chinese Casket imports.

That is  part of the rise in more intense competition.

Funeral Industry|Funeral Blog by Your Funeral Guy.

Source(rttnews.com)

post updated at 12:54 Am on May13th 2009 due to inaccurate info fron 1st source.( revenue decline was 10.8% not 22%)

Chicago Cubs Cemetery is for Burned Fans.YourFuneralGuy

This is the inspiration for the Chicago Cub Fan Cemetery, Center Field, Wrigley Field wall 400

Breaking News – The Chicago Cub fan cemetery opens today April 22, 2009 The cemetery will feature a replica of the Chicago Cub hand operated Scoreboard in Stain Glass.

The Chicago Cub Cemetery features a replica of the Wrigley Field Center Field  Wall. The cost of being laid to rest there is $1,295.oo. The REQUIREMENT TO REST IN PEACE is to be a BURNED Cub Fan.

I am not talking about being burned because the Cubs have not won a WORLD SERIES in a 100 years.

In order to store your Ashes in an “ETERNAL SKYBOX” you will have to undergo a cremation. That will be on top of the cost of resting in peace at “Beyond the Vines.” You will have to accept the fact that your body will be burned.

It really is not all that bad because with  a little shopping around  for cremation you can come in under the average cost of a funeral which I have declared to be $8,500.00+ in 2009.

You can view past and current pictures of the replica  cemetery center field brick wall at http://beyondthevines.net/

But there  is only 288 spaces available here hardly enough for the “die hard” Cub Fans in Chicago.

The Beyond the Vines Cemetery will have a Stained Glass replica of the Historic Wrigley Field Scoreboard.

The latest word is that the business owner now has his eye on Yankee Stadium.  From the Bugs and Cranks Blog

“The goal was to try and take away some of the gloominess and depression from a cemetery visit,” Beyond the Vines founder Dennis Mascari said in an interview. I’m not quite sure if he went about it the right way……Mascari unsurprisingly said he’s considering a Yankees-themed cemetery.”

Hope springs eternal for the Chicago Cubs.

Funeral Industry|Funeral Blog-Your Funeral Guy

Source:Bugs and Cranks Blog

Wrigley Field Center Field Photo from Flickr under the Creative Commons license

jimcchou’s photostream

Revealed Now: A Doctor Spock Casket for You-YourFuneralGuy

Beam on to the other side Scottie in Spock's Coffin. Picture from STAR TREK Convention .

With the advent of a new Star Trek movie a funeral company will be offering you a Dr Spock Casket.  Eternal Image is the one offering the casket and if you prefer cremation there are star trek urns available. A new Star trek movie is several months away. It is also true that these items will not help you lower your funeral costs.

Technically the casket is a “Torpedo Tube“  similar to the one that was used in the end of  a Star Trek Movie.

From Wired Magazine:

“Soon, you can be buried in a full-size recreation of the torpedo tube (above) used to launch Spock’s corpse to the Genesis Planet at the end of Wrath of Khan.”

“trek monuments and burial vaults are also coming. The entire collection doesn’t arrive until later this year, and no prices are listed yet.”

A recent agreement with Wilbert Vault  is making Trek vaults available along with more personal options.

Eternal Image has a line of many unique products including Major League Baseball caskets and urns.

Funeral Industry |Funeral Costs blog by Your Funeral Guy.

Smitty’s Wife’s photostream on flickr is the photosource

Your funeral guy  has no connection with Eternal Image

News-Bizarre Twist on Funeral Cost-Dead Body Subpoena-yourfuneralguy

Chrysler Corporation gets a Court Order for a deceased person's body- burial stopped

News 3/09/09- In a bizarre twist on Funeral Cost Chrysler has subpoenaed  a dead body.  This has added Emotional and Financial funeral cost  as the body was snatched after a funeral and right before burial.  The family is fighting the court order. The trial was set to begin on March 9th 2009. The person involved has not had a burial.

In an article at The Truth about Cars:

“The trial was set to begin March 9. Unexpectedly, St. John died on February 28. Though he had undergone a painful biopsy to provide a lung tissue sample while still living, Chrysler insisted on taking the body from its burial site before it could be laid to rest.”

This approach seems to be distasteful and disrespectful. It surely shows a lack of respect for the dead. It appears that the law has no respect for persons living or dead.

From michiganmessenger.com

“Chrysler had asked the court for permission to obtain tissue samples, but the court order was not issued until the day of the funeral. The process server waited until after the funeral but before interment to serve the order, offending the grieving family who claim they caught completely unaware of Chrysler’s request.”

It was a good thing that the process server showed discretion and respect.

What can be learned from this? DEATH and the LAW are no respecter of persons.

Maybe it would have been best if the automakers did not get a bailout and had their own funeral.

Funeral Industry|funeral cost blog by Your Funeral Guy.