The Florida Division of Funeral, Cemetery & Consumer Services is investigating Rubin Memorial Chapel near Boynton Beach, Florida, for the third time in as many years. After audits in 2006 and 2007, both triggered by employee complaints, the state found that Rubin Memorial Chapel had overcharged customers at least 9 times, and was slow to refund the money when ordered.
The funeral home is also the defendant in a class-action lawsuit. Two former employees allege they were told to scan invoices from out-of-state funeral homes, and alter them to cover overcharges, which Rubin would then pocket.
Rubin’s attorney denies the lawsuit allegations.
In this summary: a funeral home employee steals urns, then sells them for scrap; an SC funeral home recovers from an arson fire; and an NC funeral home has its license suspended.
There are apparently no limits for some people. A former funeral home employee trespassed in a Florida cemetery, stole over 100 urns, and sold them for scrap. Unbelievable. Even more disappointing is the scrap dealer who apparently blindly accepted this guy turning in 15-20 urns at a time.
A South Carolina funeral home is preparing to rebuild after an arson fire over a year ago. They operated out of a nearby church for several months, but are now ready to begin rebuilding. That shows what staying active in your community can do. When Jerry Spears Funeral Home was struck by a fire in 2007, before the fire was extinguished, one pastor offered their church, and within days, other West Side churches had done the same.
A reminder from Michigan City, Indiana police: funeral processions have the right of way in Indiana.
In Greeneville, TN, a woman collided with the last car of a funeral procession as the car waited to make a turn. True, this was just an unobservant driver, who likely would have hit any car stopped to make a turn, but it did involve a procession.
The North Carolina Board of Funeral Service has suspended the licenses of Howell Funeral Home and funeral director Eric Mark Howell. A woman filed a complaint over apparently missing pre-need funds, and in the course of investigating that complaint, the board discovered other irregularities with Howell’s pre-need contracts.