Families Outraged By Ramshackle State Of Loved Ones' Final Resting Place
PISCATAWAY, N.J. (CBSNewYork) - Floors and a leaking ceiling are never a pleasant thing to see, especially in a loved one's final resting place.
Such a state of disrepair is what grieving families in New Jersey are dealing with, and they're demanding someone fix it, reports CBS2's Tara Jakeway.
"Everything is leaking, the roof is leaking, there's water on the floor - this place has not been taken care of in years," said Susan Corbin of Piscataway.
Corbin used to cherish coming to Lake Nelson Memorial cemetery to visit her late father. But now, she shutters at the thought of walking through the mausoleum doors.
"This location is disgusting," she said. "It has bugs everywhere, it has a horrible stench when you come in here."
Next to her father is a spot paid for and reserved for her mother, Linda Evans.
"When I come I'm like, 'oh my God. No I don't want to be here, I don't want to be here,'" said Evans.
Linda Evans says when her husband Bob was buried here 25 years ago, it was a beautiful well-kept place. Now the once-shiny marble has lines from receded floodwaters and the pavement in pieces on the walkway outside.
"If he had seen it now he never would have come here," said William Clader. "He always wanted it nice everything."
Clader just buried his brother in the mausoleum two weeks ago. Now the front door is loose.
These two families are just a snapshot of the bigger, bleaker picture. They paid upfront for perennial care.
Space in the mausoleum can cost upwards of $10,000.
"A lot of people are complaining about the place that should be kept up for the money that they spend," said Clader.
"We're working on addressing all of the complaints," said Joseph Catanese, Lake Nelson's receiver of the cemetery. "I personally have walked the property and I feel bad about some of the conditions."
Catanese says he wants to remedy the situation, there's just one problem.
"I was appointed because the previous administration here at the cemetery left abruptly," he said.
He says he's playing catch up after the court handed him the property in August in serious disrepair.
So far. you can see they've patched the roof, but the new one will have to wait until after the winter.
"We all want to see results immediately, that's the world we live in, but it takes time," said Catanese.
This Dec. 5 is the 25th anniversary of Bob Evan's death, and Linda doesn't want to wait.
"I constantly think I would like to move him, just to not be here," she said.
Catanese says if family members do you want to still move their loved ones, they're welcome to do so but they will have to pay the standard fee.
