As one state agency closes its case, another has begun disciplinary proceedings against a licensed funeral director and an unlicensed employee regarding a public aid burial at Mt. Hope Cemetery in Morgan Park.

According to the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR), on June 22 the mother of 43-year-old breast cancer victim Jacqueline Britton consulted with funeral director Bridget Marshall of Unique Funeral Chapel in Chicago’s Humboldt Park neighborhood to discuss plans for a public aid burial at Mt. Hope Cemetery.

Marshall told Britton’s mother that a public aid burial would have two people buried together but that a single grave could be purchased as an “upgrade.” (Multiple bodies are allowed by law to be buried in single graves if they are public aid burials through the Illinois Department of Human Services.)

In an alleged violation of state law, Marshall reportedly sent her brother, Terrence Marshall of Chicago, to Britton’s home to discuss the upgraded burial and other financial arrangements for the funeral—including collecting cash payments for additional services.

As a result, Britton paid $350 for limousine service to the cemetery. But when she arrived at Mt. Hope, the family discovered that Britton’s casket had been “dropped off” in an area next to an access road within the cemetery. The hearse and both Marshalls were nowhere to be found.

It wasn’t until early September that Britton’s mother learned where her daughter was buried.

“Like many grieving families, the Brittons relied on the professional guidance and expertise of a local mortuary,” said Brent E. Adams, acting secretary of the IDFPR. “But Jackie Britton’s funeral did not help the family move toward closure and acceptance. Rather, the experience caused Mrs. Britton to endure many sleepless nights wondering where her daughter was.”

The complaint seeks the revocation of Bridget Marshall’s funeral director and embalmer license as well as an order to cease and desist the unlicensed practice of funeral director for her brother. He also could face a fine. No criminal charges are pending against the two.

But one question remains: Why didn’t Mt. Hope employees bury Britton? It’s the responsibility of the cemetery—not the funeral home—to conduct all burials, said IDFPR spokesperson Susan Hofer. But Carol Knowles, spokeswoman for Illinois Comptroller Dan Hynes, disagreed. She maintains that the comptroller’s office only oversees pre-need contracts such as plot purchases ahead of time, not actual burials. “We are not involved in the day-to-day operations of the cemetery and the ways the workers behave—or don’t behave,” Knowles added.

Either way, a bill in the Illinois General Assembly is designed to clarify the confusion once and for all.

STATE MAY SHIFT CEMETERY OVERSIGHT

On Wednesday the state House Executive Committee adopted and approved an amendment to the Cemetery Care Act by transferring some responsibilities (such as oversight of perpetual care funds) to the IDFPR from the Illinois Office of the Comptroller. The legislation would regulate all Illinois cemeteries, including those operated by governments and religious organizations, by requiring background checks, licensing and registration for owners and employees. The full assembly is expected to vote by Friday, when the fall veto session ends.

“There are voids in state law. (Hynes) believes that all regulations of the death care industry should be consolidated, but he doesn’t think the current bill goes far enough,” Knowles told me this afternoon.

“Part of the problem is that there are so many agencies involved in this industry,” Knowles added. “People have been led to believe that it’s only the comptroller’s office and IDFPR, but the Department of Public Health is involved, and so is the Department of Human Services, which contracts with individual funeral homes for public aid burials.”

MAINTENANCE ISSUES RESOLVED

Meanwhile, the comptroller’s office is assuring half a dozen concerned families that the cemetery has not been neglectful in maintaining the grounds.

The office has been investigating six additional inquiries by families following media reports in September that multiple bodies were buried in a single grave at the century-old cemetery, located at 11500 S. Fairfield Ave. The reports surfaced after Britton filed a complaint with the IDFPR.

“We contacted those individuals to obtain more information and then followed up with the cemetery owner (Robert Troost) who was able to very quickly provide documentation for each and every individual in detail, including showing our staff in person where each individual was buried,” Knowles told me.

The IDFPR, which received the original complaint from Britton’s mother in July, never provided the comptroller’s office with her name and contact information, Knowles said.

Hofer disagreed, telling me that the department did provide Britton’s contact information.

The other six inquiries were filed in late August in the wake of news that the IDFPR had asked Hynes to investigate reports of misconduct that were raised during a hearing of Gov. Quinn’s newly formed Cemetery Oversight Task Force.

ONE WOMAN’S FIGHT

The resolution still hasn’t brought closure to one former Morgan Park neighbor whose parents and grandparents are buried there.

Liz Stirling, who lives 100 miles west in Byron, Ill., told me that she began to have concerns in June when she was considering a trip to Chicago to visit the cemetery. “I had not been there since my father died in 2003,” she said, describing the scene at the funeral: Plywood had been placed on muddy ground for mourners to walk and sit, and the hole where her father’s ashes were to be buried was filled with water.

In June she spoke to a woman at Mt. Hope who confirmed that her family’s sites were under water again.

In September she went online and “discovered photos that indicated a good portion of the section where they are buried is underwater,” said Stirling, who has no living relatives.

Stirling then sent a formal complaint to the comptroller’s office, in addition to all the deeds for seven family members buried at Mt. Hope. In the complaint she raises the concern of the continuing water problem and lack of maintenance in the areas where her family is buried.

According to Stirling, Dan Rheaume, vice president of Mt. Hope Cemetery Association, said that since autumn 2008 the cemetery had been undergoing a five-year, $200,000 project to repair underground water lines.

Stirling told me that she recalls the area being saturated back in 2003, when her father was interred.

Rheaume declined to answer questions and referred me to Troost, who was unavailable for comment. Stirling said that she has not received a return phone call or letter from the cemetery.

Families concerned about cemetery operations are encouraged to call (877) 203-3401, the Cemetery Care Complaints Hotline.

Mt. Hope is the final resting place of several notable personalities, including Muddy Waters' band mate Carey Bell, Rotary International founder Paul Percy Harris and "Black Sox" third baseman George "Buck" Weaver.