A heartbroken widow from New Jersey has expressed outrage at a local cemetery, alleging that her late husband was buried in the incorrect plot, as per a recent lawsuit.
Debra Poller claims that Stanhope Union Cemetery in Netcong mistakenly interred her 69-year-old husband, Alan, in a different plot than the family gravesite she had purchased. This error reportedly occurred following his passing on November 30, as detailed in a lawsuit filed last week and reported by NJ.com.
The Lake Hopatcong resident discovered the cemetery’s distressing error on December 3, intensifying her grief.
Poller criticized the cemetery for lacking “reasonable care and skill” in handling her husband’s burial. According to the lawsuit and his obituary, this mistake exacerbated her profound emotional distress. Alan was a Hungarian immigrant who had come to the United States at 17 in 1973.
She is seeking legal action against the cemetery, arguing that their blunder has inflicted “severe emotional distress and mental anguish,” depriving her of the proper grieving process.
The lawsuit accuses the cemetery of negligence and describes its conduct as “intentional, extreme, reckless, and outrageous.”
Alan, a father of two, was a master stone mason in Hungary before settling in Jersey City and then relocating to Colorado, where he met his wife and started two businesses, his obituary said.
The couple late relocated to Lake Hopatcong in 2003, where he enjoyed golfing with his son and friends, watching wildlife on the lake, attending car shows, and spending time with family.
“Al was very proud to be an American,” his obituary said.
Poller is demanding a jury trial and monetary damages.
