On Thursday, July 30, a South Side state senator became the latest lawmaker to hold a public hearing surrounding the Burr Oak Cemetery scandal.
On Thursday, July 30, a South Side state senator became the latest lawmaker to hold a public hearing surrounding the Burr Oak Cemetery scandal. The four-hour long hearing, sponsored by state Sen. Emil Jones III, D-14th, and held downtown at the James R. Thompson Center, included a panel filled with state representatives. They included Kenneth Dunkin, D-5th, Marlow Colvin, D-33rd, William Davis, D-26th, LaShawn Ford, D-8th, and William Davis, D-30th. Also attending were several local funeral directors, including Spencer Leak Jr., co-owner of Leaks and Sons Funeral Home, and Lafayette Gatling Jr., co-owner of Gatlin Chapel Inc. “We need answers to the tons of questions being asked by families affected by Burr Oak,” Jones said at the hearing. “And at this point, there are too many questions and not enough answers.” Burr Oak, 4400 W. 127th St. in south suburban Alsip is located within Jones’ district. Many families attended the hearing. For some the hearing was a rehash of similar meetings past that, for them, have yielded few answers. “I have attended three public hearings on Burr Oak and everyone is saying the same thing. No one seems to know how this could have happened and where are the missing headstones,” said Ernest Lewis Jr. “Wherever my dad is I hope he is resting in peace.” Lewis, 45, is among hundreds of people with loved ones at Burr Oak who cannot locate their headstone. Gov. Pat Quinn recently commissioned a nine-member task force to study how to better regulate cemeteries through new laws and to make recommendations to him by Sept. 15. The Cook County Sheriff’s office has set up a Web site, www.burroak.net, for families to view their loved ones’ headstones––provided that there is one still at the gravesite. In July, four Burr Oak employees were charged with dismembering a human body, which is a Class X felony, punishable by up to 30 years in prison. In addition, the four cemetery employees are accused of reselling already occupied burial plots to unsuspected families and pocketing the money. ______ Copyright 2009 Chicago Defender. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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