Menorah Gardens Cemetery
Introduction
from the International
Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies - Cemetery Project
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Founded in 1973, the Menorah Gardens chain bought the suburban
Palm Beach Gardens cemetery in 1982 and sold it to SCI of
Texas in April 1995. Dug-up remains, disturbed markers, and broken vaults were shown on local and national television starting December 20, 2001. Lawyers now seek a class-action suit against the five Menorah Gardens cemeteries in South Florida and their owner, Service Corporation International of Houston, a manager and owner of 460 non-Jewish and Jewish cemeteries and 1,358 funeral homes. SCI is the largest cemetery operator in the United States. SCI claims no knowledge and plans to investigate. The State Comptroller's Office, which monitors cemeteries, and the Florida State Attorney General are investigating allegations against one cemetery in West Palm Beach and one off Griffin Road in Broward County. The allegations include that they sold burial plots with insufficient space, sold the same plots to more than one family, desecrated graves, and disinterred and improperly disposed of bodies. U.S. Rep. Mark Foley, R-Palm Beach Gardens, called for a criminal investigation and contacted U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft, Federal Trade Commission Chairman Tim Muris, and Florida Attorney General Bob Butterworth. Justice Department spokesman Brian Sierra confirmed that the agency is reviewing Foley's request. |
By Jan. 4, 2002, the cemetery and its parent corporation are
to turn over records to Florida Attorney General Bob
Butterworth. Butterworth asked for burial books, burial cards
and other records listing who is buried in the cemetery and in
which specific plots. The Board of Funeral and Cemetery
Services could fine or shut down SCI if allegations prove
true. Local rabbis and synagogues are demanding answers.
The Griffin
Road cemetery allegedly has a cordoned-off area with piles of
broken vaults that SCI claims are residue of disinterments for
interment elsewhere. The lawsuit seeks a court order to stop
the alleged cemetery practices immediately and correct
existing irregularities. Some family members report fresh
mounds of dirt on plots where loved-ones had been buried for
years. Others reported that loved ones could not be buried in
a plot for which they had paid because someone else also
purchased that plot. |
Articles about the Menorah Gardens Lawsuit