Court: Modern Landfill must disclose it sent 'forever chemical' wastewater to Harrisburg

Rest in peace? Not with Pennsylvania's cemetery laws

A distinct lack of oversight has some cemeteries operating without the money needed for perpetual care.

Abbey Zelko
York Daily Record
  • Hundreds of cemeteries across the state are struggling financially, according to state Rep. Tom Caltagirone.
  • No one checks to see if cemetery owners are audited every two to three years.
  • Without perpetual care funds, money might not be available to tend to gravesites.
"When I left on Mother's Day, I was in tears," said Annette Fisher at the gravesite of her parents at Suburban Memorial Gardens in Conewago Township on Thursday, June 8, 2017. Fisher was distraught after finding the gravesite in poor condition and is taking action to remedy the situation.

Annette Fisher stared in disbelief at the overflowing trash, overturned vases and un-mowed grass reaching halfway up her leg at Suburban Memorial Gardens.

It was Mother’s Day, and the pain of losing her mother three years ago was still fresh. But seeing her mom’s final resting place in such disarray brought on a whole new kind of pain.

“I was absolutely devastated,” she recalled of that day. “This is not the way my mom deserves to spend her eternity.” 

Standing over her mother's grave, Fisher's eyes welled with tears.

Over the next few days, as she realized that the owners of the Conewago Township cemetery were in prison and had apparently left no one in charge to take care of upkeep, her grief turned to anger.

Then came fear.

What if no one takes responsibility, she thought. What if the cemetery remains neglected forever?

That risk spans the state as hundreds of cemeteries struggle financially, and little oversight is in place to protect consumers or guide cemetery owners.

***

Judy Bochenek said she’d gladly hand off Suburban Memorial Gardens to someone else if she could. She’s the mother of one of the owners and has been helping out in the cemetery office for six or seven years.

MORE:Left alone, gravedigger keeps York County cemetery in service

MORE:Taking care of her mom's gravesite at a neglected cemetery

Arminda Martin

Her daughter Arminda Martin and son-in-law Theodore both want to sell the cemetery, she said.  

But even if Bochenek could find someone to take over while the Martins serve time for tax evasion, there would still be no money for basic upkeep, which costs $300 to $400 a week during mowing season. The cemetery, she said, has no long-term funds to cover costs that never go away.

State laws require some cemetery companies, such as Suburban Memorial Gardens, to establish a permanent lot care fund to cover maintenance costs, and a merchandise trust fund to cover pre-paid sales, such as burial vaults, caskets or grave markers. A cemetery can’t operate successfully without both, Bochenek said. But Suburban Memorial Gardens, she said, has no such funds. 

Theodore Martin

The state Real Estate Commission has some oversight of permanent lot care funds, but the law does not stipulate how the money is to be used, nor does it advise a clear path of action if cemeteries run out of money and become neglected, said Wanda Murren, spokeswoman for the Pennsylvania department of state. 

“Oversight of cemeteries is what we’ve begun to call patchwork,” Murren said. “It’s a little bit of regulation here. A little bit of oversight there … Regulation of cemeteries is a pretty difficult subject because various aspects of burial and cemeteries fall under different laws and different agencies.”

And the vast majority of cemetery companies are not required to comply, she said. Historical, familial, religious and fraternal cemeteries are all exempt from Real Estate Commission regulations, according to the department of state.

Cemeteries that are regulated by the state Real Estate Commission, such as Suburban Memorial Gardens, are required to file their permanent lot care accounts with the Court of Common Pleas and be audited every two years or every three, depending on the type of qualified trustee. But the York County Clerk of Orphans’ Court, which handles those filings, has no record of any permanent lot care accounts, merchandise trust fund accounts or audits on file for Suburban Memorial Gardens going back to 1994. That suggests the cemetery has not been audited in at least 23 years.

The court reviews the accounting only when and if it’s filed, according to Becky Foust, Chief Deputy, York County Clerk of Orphans’ Court.

“We don’t go out and say, ‘Your two years are up. Where’s your account?’” she said.

So with little to no oversight in place, the Martins continued to operate and then ultimately all but abandoned the 17-acre plot of land in Conewago Township.  

In this photo from 2017, Brain Baublitz mowed around a grave that needed attention at Suburban Memorial Gardens in Conewago Township. Baublitz had put out an appeal for mowers after his brother-in-law was upset that the cemetery wasn't mowed.

The Martins spent hundreds of thousands of dollars covering expenses that should have been covered by those long-term trust funds, Bochenek said. Eight years in, they realized they couldn’t afford to do that anymore and still have enough money left to take care of such legacy costs as well as their own new customers.

The person who sold the cemetery to the Martins declined to comment.

For the last two years, money has been just trickling in, Bochenek said, mostly from the cost of opening and closing graves. The cemetery averages about 50 burials a year, but hasn't sold many plots in the last few years.

“It’s just not enough,” she said. “They’re in trouble.”

Now, the cemetery isn’t even bringing in enough money to pay the bills, let alone supply markers or take care of cemetery maintenance.

***

Hundreds of cemeteries across the state are struggling financially, according to state Rep. Tom Caltagirone. 

“There isn’t a county (in Pennsylvania) that doesn’t have a cemetery that’s either neglected, abandoned or not being kept up to speed,” Caltagirone said. “It’s a dilemma that every one of our communities, every county will be faced with if it’s not already.”

Many of those neglected cemeteries were started in the 1700s or 1800s – before the idea of perpetual care existed, Caltagirone said.

In those days, it was left up to the families of the deceased to take care of their graves. But as time goes on and families die off, eventually, there’s no one left to take care of them and no money to hire someone else to do it.

In other instances, cemeteries have some perpetual care, but as maintenance costs rise, there’s just not enough set aside to cover necessary maintenance costs and repairs.

And in a handful of cases, such as Oak Lawn Memorial Gardens in Adams County, cemetery owners have been charged with abusing or mishandling funds.

The situation at Suburban Memorial Gardens is more of an isolated issue, said Jack Sommer, manager of Prospect Hill Cemetery in North York and Manchester Township. The owners are serving time in federal prison for tax evasion – they failed to report more than $786,500 they received from operating cemeteries in Ohio between 2008 and 2011 – and people don’t know who to call to take care of burials and cemetery upkeep.

After an indictment last week, the Martins are facing theft-related charges in Ohio for allegedly accepting money for services that were never provided at a cemetery they own in Delaware County. The Martins were charged with similar offenses last year related to Suburban Memorial Gardens, but those charges were dropped because the federal Office of Inspector General is now handling the matter, according to Northern York County Regional Police. The OIG declined to comment on its ongoing investigation.

Leona Smith, of Dover Township, weeds and mows at the entrance Suburban Memorial Gardens in Conewago Township. Smith's parents and two brothers are buried at the cemetery.

In Sommer's 40 years in the cemetery business, the situation at Suburban Memorial Gardens is one of the worst he’s seen in terms of powerlessness to bring it to resolution, he said. 

“Usually, there’s enough underlying strength that someone else steps in,” he said.

But if no one does, it’s unclear what lot owners or family members can do.

Sommer said there is no clear statute that lays out what to do when a cemetery becomes neglected, abandoned or financially unstable. There is no clear path of action, so individual situations are often handled differently. 

In Berks County, Aulenbach’s Cemetery receives $5,000 a year from Mount Penn borough and the city of Reading to cover necessary maintenance and repairs it can’t currently afford, according to the Reading Eagle.

In Philadelphia, a judge appointed a receiver to take over the struggling, mismanaged Mount Moriah Cemetery, which closed in 2011. A nonprofit organization, the Friends of Mount Moriah Cemetery, incorporated and began clearing the landscape, restoring stones and cleaning up the neglected cemetery, according to president Paulette Rhone.

For now, in Conewago Township, volunteers and family members are mowing the grass and tending to the graves each week. The township could, by law, take over the mowing and maintenance and bill the owners.

Unless such efforts are taken or someone offers another long-term solution, the grass will continue to grow, litter and debris will build up, branches will fall down, and the cemetery will just sit there – abandoned. 

Conewago Township officials could not be reached for comment.

***

Caltagirone said he doesn't know if there is a statewide solution. But establishing a funding source for struggling cemeteries could be a step in the right direction.

He has proposed legislation to establish a cemetery relief board and fund to help cemeteries that are financially unable to maintain their grounds.

The revenue for the fund would come from a $2 surcharge on birth and death certificates, he said. And the five-member board would be responsible for approving and distributing money to struggling cemeteries.

“I know this issue may not be one that we think about often, but I believe it is important to make sure our cemeteries, no matter how old they are, are cared for in perpetuity,” Caltagirone wrote in a memo to House members.

***

Since Mother's Day, Fisher has been on the phone with state representatives, funeral directors, funeral home managers, attorneys and the department of state searching for solutions.

Submitted photograph of Annette Fisher and her mother Fay Hess. "She was my rock, said Fisher of her mom, who passed away three years ago.

One of her biggest fears, she said, is that this issue will continue to be swept under the rug and forgotten.

"There has to be somebody that can step in and say, 'This is what we need to do. These are the steps we can take so this never happens again,'" Fisher said.

But so far, she hasn't found any promising leads. Fisher said it's frustrating to realize that the condition of her mom's resting place doesn't seem to be a priority.

“We have all of these rules and regulations to sell liquor, but when it comes to operating a cemetery, nobody wants to set up the rules and regulations to make sure it’s done professionally,” Fisher said. “Some things we put so much emphasis on. But yet, when it comes to something as personal to people as interring their loved ones, it’s up in the air.”

The perpetual care of cemeteries is important and needs to be addressed, Fisher said.  And she's not going to stop making phone calls and asking questions until that happens.

"There are so many beautiful cemeteries in this area that are well-kept and cared for," Fisher said. "I just don't understand why this one can't be as well."