After the Warren Funeral Home fiasco of last summer, African-American residents of Columbia, Missouri felt they had no place to go. Now Tom May, owner of H.T. May & Son Funeral Home, has had a property re-zoned to allow him to fill that void.

He’s purchased a former Jehovah’s Witnesses building, and Columbia City Council approved the rezoning. There were some objections, but the application was single-use, and May agreed to work with the neighbors to address concerns.

Previously, Warren Funeral Chapel was facing a pair of lawsuits over unsanitary conditions at the funeral home, including issues with unembalmed and improperly stored bodies.

Since the last hearing on August 25, director Harold Warren Jr. has been arrested for non-payment of child support.

Perhaps more importantly, over 40 more complaints have been filed against the business, including some questioning the status of prepaid funds for funeral services. Assistant Attorney General Peter Lyskowski said his office is continuing to investigate complaints, including some that “have criminal and civil implications.”

The next hearing is scheduled for January 26, 2009.

Update:
Don Otto, Executive Director of the Missouri Funeral Directors and Embalmers Association, had this to say.

Warren Funeral Chapel was not a member of the Missouri Funeral Directors and Embalmers Association. MFDEA members pledge to uphold a very rigorous code of ethics that goes beyond just the legal requirements of the statutes to give the highest degree of service and professionalism to the families we serve and to promote the interests of our consumers and funeral service. The allegations against this funeral home are repugnant and go against everything we stand for and try to promote. Out of all of Missouri’s professions,Funeral Directing has one of the lowest rates of complaints, far lower then doctors, lawyers, accountants and the like. We hope that an isolated “bad apple” won’t tarnish the overwhelming majority of funeral homes that behave both legally and ethically and do a wonderful job of serving their communities.

The one good thing that can be taken from the situation is that the Missouri inspection and regulatory system does work. The alleged violations were discovered by the State’s inspectors and appropriate action by the Missouri State Board of Embalmers and Funeral Directors has been taken.

In a continuing story from Columbia, Missouri, Warren Funeral Chapel and its owners Harold Warren Sr. and Harold Warren Jr. are facing a possible class-action lawsuit. Plaintiff Kathy Johnson has alleged that Warren FC lost her mother’s remains, and is seeking an exhumation order to determine if her mother is buried in the correct plot at Rock Bridge Cemetery.

In July 2008, State Board of Embalmers and Funeral Directors investigators reported they found bags of organs from multiple bodies in one casket, as well as one body stored in an electrical room more than ten months after death. Investigators also found three other bodies not properly stored or handled.
The State Attorney General has also filed a lawsuit against the Warrens. Here’s more coverage from the Columbia Missourian