Woman suing diocese over burial plot error

PHOTOGRAPHER: Jill Bryce

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For three weeks, the body of Irene Belanger has been at a Cohoes funeral home awaiting burial.

It’s uncertain when she will be buried.

Lucille Machia said she tried to have her mother buried in the family plot at St. Agnes Cemetery only to learn the plot she purchased in 1985 had been sold to someone else by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany, which owns the cemetery.

A distraught Machia, a Schenectady resident, is now suing the Albany diocese, which owns the cemetery, for breach of contract for selling the plot and damages.

The lawsuit was filed on Thursday in state Supreme Court in Schenectady.

Machia, 44, who works in Albany, said it’s been a painful time since her 79-year old mother died and the error with the burial plot only made it worse. She said she loved her mother and was very close to her. “I can’t explain the situation. It’s strange and very unusual,” she said on Thursday.

Paul Marra, owner of Marra’s Funeral Home in Cohoes, said in 30 years in the funeral business he’s never had anything like this happen before.

“I’ve never had to hold a body in a funeral home because of a dispute with the family and cemetery,” he said.

Diocesan officials said Thursday they have offered options to Machia for her loved ones and will cover expenses, but she has declined those offers.

Machia said she had purchased the plots in 1985 for her father, brother and mother at St. Agnes Cemetery. It is one of 13 cemeteries owned by the Albany diocese in the Capital Region.

Her father died in 1979 and her brother in 1984. They were properly buried in their plots at St. Agnes.

When her mother died on July 8 of respiratory failure, Machia said, she was stunned to learn someone else was buried right next to her father in the plot she had purchased.

“Right now, for the third week, my mother’s body is sitting in Marra Funeral Home, which is really discouraging because when someone in your family dies — it sounds mean — you want to get it over with. You want closure.

“My main goal is to put my mother to rest,” Machia said.

Her lawyer, John Aretakis, said it’s a case of gross negligence and the lawsuit, which names the diocese, Bishop Howard J. Hubbard and St. Agnes Cemetery, is seeking injunctive relief so Belanger can be buried. It also seeks $200,000 in damages.

Aretakis, who held a news conference on Thursday with Machia, asked: “How can the family start to heal?”

Late Thursday afternoon, diocesan spokesman Ken Goldfarb issued a statement that said that in 2003, diocesan officials discovered a numbering error had occurred in 1979 at St. Agnes Cemetery.

A letter was sent to the family in December 2003 informing them of this situation and offering to realign vaults within the lot to provide space at no charge for an additional burial. This offer was declined, according to the diocese.

In July 2007, the cemetery offered to provide a new, three-grave lot and to reinter the bodies of the two family members already buried, but this offer was declined, according to the diocese.

On July 9 of this year, cemetery officials say, they met personally with a family representative and once again offered the previous options. In addition, the cemetery was able to locate a space within the original lot, at the head of and adjacent to where the two family members are already buried. The family representative indicated that she would consider this third option and get back to them with her decision, the statement said.

To date, cemetery officials say, it has not received further communication from the family about a decision. Selection of any of the three proposed options would permit immediate interment for Machia’s mother, the diocese statement said.

The cemetery remains ready and willing to cooperate with the decision the family makes in seeking to resolve this matter, assuming all costs associated with the burial, said Goldfarb.

“The diocese is trying to say it’s not their fault,” said Machia, who said she met with the director of St. Agnes Cemetery and was told she could have her family plot moved but it would be at her expense.

She said the same director suggested she could move her brother and bury him deeper and put her mother on top. “I still only have two plots. They said I could squeeze my mother in I said, ‘I paid for a plot and I don’t want my mother there.’ ”

She also said other options were discussed, including burying her mother perpendicular to her father and brother, something she doesn’t want to do.

Richard N. Touchette, the director of cemeteries for the Albany diocese, referred questions to the chancellor’s office.

Machia said her mother, father and brother are supposed to be at peace. “If I have to move my whole family it will be one more time and that’s it,” said Machia, who has no living siblings.

“I don’t have any other options. They own the cemetery. I am at a loss right now. It feels pretty stagnant.”

The ideal situation would be to get an agreement in writing from the Albany diocese that says she won’t be liable and the whole family can be moved together, said Machia.

“There is really nothing I can do. The cemetery and family have to come to an agreement. It’s highly unusual,” the funeral director said.

“I am here to serve the family, and I will do whatever I can to ease their pain during this time.”