Guyanese family seeks justice after Queens funeral home cremates matriarch against burial wishes
Relatives of 93-year-old Euvy Agnes Rodney say she wanted to be buried in Guyana beside her grandmother, as instructed on her death certificate.
NEW YORK, United States. A grieving family is demanding justice after a funeral home in the Jamaica neighbourhood of Queens allegedly cremated their 93-year-old matriarch against her wish to be buried in her home country of Guyana.
Euvy Agnes Rodney and her husband emigrated to the United States in 1993 and raised their 11 children in Jamaica, Queens. Her family includes 55 grandchildren and great-grandchildren. She died on July 8.
Family members have called on the New York State Bureau of Funeral Directing to investigate the J. Foster Phillips Funeral Home, which they say ignored directions on her death certificate to repatriate her remains to Guyana for burial alongside her grandmother in the family plot.
"We have lost our mom twice. We have lost her in death, we have lost her body, we have no closure for our mother," said her daughter Christine Weaver.
Another daughter, Ramona Rodney Park, said: "She deserved to be treated with the same dignity and respect in death."
Complaint filed
Civil rights leader the Rev. Kevin McCall, who is supporting the family, called for the funeral home to be shut down. He said the family had filed a complaint with the Bureau of Funeral Directing, part of the state Health Department.
Attorney John Eiefrakis of the EEF Law Firm, representing the family, said cremation "was never on the table". He said the death certificate specified burial, and that there had been no communication from the funeral home since he began his investigation.
Funeral home responds
In a statement, J. Foster Phillips Funeral Home said: "We are deeply sorry for the distress this has caused and we are committed to supporting them with care, compassion and respect." It said it had served the community for 97 years, remained committed to accountability, and would not comment further.
The Bureau of Funeral Directing confirmed receiving the complaint. A Health Department spokesperson declined to comment on matters that are or may be under review.
A symbolic funeral for Rodney will be held at the Episcopal Church of St Alban the Martyr in St Albans on Friday, July 31.
