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AG deputy meets with cemetery plot owners (PA) |
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Written by John Ellingsworth
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Wednesday, 07 July 2004 |
AG deputy meets with cemetery plot owners
By Elizabeth Skrapits , Citizens' Voice Staff Writer 04/08/2004
Plot owners and people with loved ones buried at Good Shepherd Memorial Gardens still have questions, but feel a meeting Wednesday with the state deputy attorney general was promising.
Larry Deminski, the owner of the neglected cemetery on Westminster Road in Plains Township, died Feb. 12, leaving people wondering what would happen.
Deputy Attorney General J.P. McGowan of the Bureau of Consumer Protection called a private meeting in Scranton that was attended by about 20 people.
"I'm not sure we'll find the big, magic bullet," McGowan said. The matter would still be under investigation, he explained.
The cemetery has been a problem for years; people with loved ones are concerned about the lack of maintenance, and owners of plots or mausoleum niches are worried their contracts may not be honored.
"This reminds me of Enron, in a way, except instead of losing stock, we're losing our rights to our land and our resting place," Richard Pietras of Laflin said. "This is one of the worst crimes, I think. You have people when they're most emotional, at their lowest point."
Records show the perpetual care fund, a state requirement for cemeteries, was turned over to Deminski in 1995, but the paper trail ends there.
McGowan said Deminski was the focus of an investigation prior to his death, and since then, the attorney general's office has been trying to find his assets, so far unsuccessfully.
"Our intent is to do everything we can to see if any successor in interest, in fact, exists," McGowan said.
If not, he said, "We will do everything we can to help them get the ownership of the cemetery transferred to another entity that will be able to maintain it."
People had a chance to voice their concerns and discuss solutions with McGowan.
Ann Grudzinski, who has been active in trying to get something done about Good Shepherd for years, said one possibility is to go through the court system to get the cemetery into the hands of a non-profit lot owners' association.
Finding a map or plan of cemetery plots is a priority.
"If there are no maps, how can you bury someone?" Rosemary Cassotti wondered. "How do you know where to dig?"
Pietras suggested going to the Plains Township municipal building to track down the surveyor or whoever put in the burial plots.
Perhaps a good Samaritan who helped lay out the cemetery will come forward, Pietras said.
In the meantime, Grudzinski and the people on her list - she has names of plot owners from as far away as Florida - will continue to work together and with the attorney general's office to come up with a satisfactory resolution.
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=11264083&BRD=2259&PAG=461&dept_id=455154&rfi=6 |
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 29 November 2005 )
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