NEW YORK CITY (WABC) – The family of a New York City woman is demanding answers from a funeral home after workers allegedly cremated their loved one against their wishes.
“We have lost our mom twice. We have lost her in death. We have lost her body. We have no closure to our mother,” Christine Weaver said.
Euvy Rodney lived to be 93 and was a mother, grandmother and great-grandmother. Her final wish was to be buried next to her own grandmother in her home country of Guyana.
Rodney’s family said she was cremated instead, which was the exact opposite of what she had wanted for her final resting place.
“For all that she has done on Earth, that’s how you treat her,” Weaver said.
The family, along with their attorneys and civil rights leaders, alleges that, instead of prepping Rodney’s body for the funeral, J. Fosters Phillips Funeral Home in Jamaica, Queens, cremated Rodney. The funeral home is accused of dodging the family’s questions before finally giving them the ashes, which the family said they cannot even prove are Rodney’s.
Rodney’s death certificate shows her final wish to be buried was very clear.
“No funeral home should be called a funeral home if they don’t have dignity and they don’t have respect for a family. They robbed this family of that,” civil rights leader Rev. Kevin McCall said.
WABC tried to question the funeral home about what happened. A man came to the front door, but would not comment.
Lawyers for the family said they want the funeral home to be held responsible and may file a lawsuit.
The family plans to have what they call a “symbolic funeral” for Rodney.
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