The Mount Auburn Funeral Home in Stickney, Illinois, mixed up the tags on a couple of bodies, so that when mourners showed up to view 91-year-old Lillian Grogan on Monday, they instead saw a different lady wearing Grogan’s clothes and jewelry. When a granddaughter tried to find out what the funeral home had done with the real Grogan, she discovered the woman had already been buried. She was exhumed and reburied yesterday. Hey, at least cremation wasn’t involved.

The funeral home referred questions to its parent company, Houston-based Service Corporation International. Company spokeswoman Jennifer Brandino said the families had requested the company not disclose information about the mix-up.

“We continue to work with both families involved and are committed to resolving the issue to their satisfaction,” Brandino said.

Why did the quaintly named Mount Auburn Funeral Home refer questions to SCI to explain what was obviously a local mistake? Because if you’re going to be owned by the country’s largest funeral home corporation—it’s like the Buy n Large (or maybe Umbrella Corp) of “end-of-life services”—you may as well use it to hide behind when you screw up.

“Grandmother’s body switched at Ill. funeral home” [Chicago Tribune]
(Photo: Getty)

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