A funeral home in Shawinigan, Quebec, apologized after placing the wrong body in an open coffin prior to a weekend funeral.
To make matters worse, Oscar St-Ours funeral home can’t fix their mistake because they accidentally cremated the body that was supposed to be placed in the casket prior to the service. According to the funeral home, a paperwork error led to the body of Marguerite Mercier-Pelletier being cremated instead of being placed in a coffin.
The family said they were unaware of the funeral home’s mistake until they arrived at the viewing Friday and didn’t recognize the person laying in the casket. They immediately notified the funeral home that the body was not that of Mercier-Pelletier.
The 81-year-old’s brother said he doesn’t have any hard feelings against the funeral home, but other relatives aren’t as understanding.
St-Ours says in 91 years of operation they have never put the wrong body in a casket.
Unfortunately, this isn’t the first time a mistake like this has occurred. In 2009, the family and friends of Aurelie Tuccillo discovered that Buckmiller Brothers Funeral Home in Prospect, Connecticut, had put the wrong body in her casket. Police determined that Tuccillo’s body had “inadvertently been cremated.” Owner Wayne P. Buckmiller said the mistake was “a most unfortunate accident.”
The home was working with the family “to resolve this difficult situation and extend our most sincere condolences to them at this challenging time,” but it was still being investigated by the state’s Department of Public Health.
In another case, a Michigan funeral home had to pay a family $80,000 after a casket was dropped and the body inside fell out before the memorial service.
Do you think the family should take legal action against the funeral home?