HILLSIDE, Ill. (WLS) — A recent investigation by the ABC7 Chicago I-Team has unveiled a puzzling situation involving the removal of a headstone from a local cemetery, leaving a grieving family seeking answers.
For many, visiting the gravesite of a deceased loved one is a vital step in the journey toward emotional healing. However, this process has become significantly more difficult for one woman after an unexpected discovery.
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Earlene Price Jennings, a resident of the Austin neighborhood, has expressed her heartbreak and frustration. Four years after her mother Grace passed away, she finds herself visiting a grave that lacks a headstone.
“My family’s heart is broken because of what we are going through right now,” said Price Jennings, clearly distressed over the situation.
Price Jennings shared that her mother, Grace, died in 2022 at the age of 87. Yet, her quest for closure has been hindered by the absence of the tombstone, which was inexplicably removed.
“I requested that the headstone be placed for Mother’s Day 2023, and was assured it would be there,” Price Jennings explained. “When I visited on Mother’s Day, the stone was present. But when I returned on August 9, 2023, it was gone.”
In a photo taken by Price Jennings, the headstone is still in the cemetery. But it was placed by a nearby building.
“It’s just lying, just lying there,” Price Jennings said.
It all started when she paid the Fountain Jordan Shepard Funeral Home in South Austin $1,675 for the headstone and its delivery to the Oakridge-Glen Oaks Cemetery in west suburban Hillside. That cemetery told the I-Team it removed the stone because they require bronze in that area where Grace was buried.
“I almost passed out. I was done. I was totally done. It was just a shocker to me. I couldn’t figure out why was it missing?” Price Jennings said.
She says she didn’t know about the cemetery’s requirements. And the cemetery told the I-Team that it’s the funeral home’s responsibility to know the rules and that “any vendor such as funeral home, monument company, etc. should always double check with the cemetery’s rules and regulations.”
Price Jennings also believes the funeral home is responsible, sharing a cemetery headstone form, signed by the funeral home. The cemetery wrote “bronze only” on the form but somehow “granite” was still checked in a box. In an email, the funeral home blamed Price Jennings, saying she told them she would provide documentation from the cemetery approving granite.
But the cemetery says it is still the funeral home’s responsibility to verify.
Fountain Jordan Shepard Funeral Home also said it’s committed to customer satisfaction and it “has proactively extended multiple good-faith offers to Mrs. Jennings. These proposals have included various alternative solutions aimed at achieving a satisfactory outcome that aligns with cemetery regulations. Regrettably, each of these constructive proposals has been consistently declined by Mrs. Jennings.”
Price Jennings says she never declined an offer.
“Just give me some justice for my mom. That’s all I want,” Price Jennings said.
The funeral home also told the I-Team on the phone it would replace the headstone as a “courtesy,” but that hasn’t yet been done.
The funeral home did not comment further on the cemetery’s policy, saying that funeral homes must directly work with them.
When picking out a headstone, make sure to know the rules and regulations and that all the parties are communicating.
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