Pinellas cancels contract for burials

Problems at Abbey Parklawn Funeral Home lead county officials to look elsewhere for services for the indigent.

By DEBORAH O'NEIL

© St. Petersburg Times,
published August 29, 2001

After hearing reports of botched funerals and other problems, Pinellas County commissioners on Tuesday canceled a contract with the Dunedin funeral home that has buried the county's poor people for five years.

Among the concerns was a recent case in which Abbey Parklawn Funeral Home mistakenly cremated a 49-year-old indigent woman.

"You just expect a higher level of service," said Interim County Administrator Gay Lancaster. "Someone's financial status shouldn't impact their being treated with dignity."

County Commission Chairman Calvin Harris said the board should not be put in such a position by a contractor. The problem is even worse, he said, because county staff had already told Abbey Parklawn officials to straighten out other problems.

"The contractor represents us, and that's not the image I want to give our citizens," he said before Tuesday's meeting. "We can't give the impression the poor are treated differently or we don't care about the poor."

Meanwhile, homicide investigators at the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office have begun a review of what happened to Marie McNair, the Clearwater woman Abbey Parklawn cremated before a viewing and service scheduled by her family.

On Aug. 20, the Medical Examiner's Office asked the Sheriff's Office to review the administrative process connected with McNair's cremation, said sheriff's spokeswoman Marianne Pasha.

"We're going to look at how the paperwork flowed, who wrote down what, when," Pasha said. "We're looking at their record-keeping process."

Funeral home officials have acknowledged a secretary failed to notice on McNair's paperwork that her family wanted a viewing prior to cremation.

Abbey Parklawn managers Jeannie and Michael Walsh were informed Tuesday afternoon the county intended to end its contract, said Evelyn Bethell, director of county social services. The termination takes effect in 30 days.

In the interim, county officials say they will use local funeral homes on a rotating basis to provide burials and cremations for the county's poor and unclaimed bodies. Abbey Parklawn's contract called for it to be paid $175,000 annually. The funeral home handled about 450 county clients.

Lancaster warned elected officials a new contract will likely cost double what they have been paying. "We have been going with the most economical provider," she said. "You can expect some increases."

Abbey Parklawn is under court-ordered receivership, along with other businesses owned by Mrs. Walsh's father, Willard Timmer. The funeral home will eventually be sold, said Veronica Genco, assistant general counsel for the Department of Banking and Finance, which regulates cemeteries.

Timmer's Florida properties were placed under receivership in June after an investigation of two of his Volusia County facilities turned up dozens of violations.

Earlier Tuesday, Mrs. Walsh deferred all questions about Abbey Parklawn to the receiver, James Stephens. He could not be reached after the commission vote.

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