HomeMy WebLinkAbout2015 06-16 Claims against Maplewood funeral home unfounded, lawyer says PIONEER PRESS Claims against Maplewood funeral home unfounded,lawyer says
Updated:06/162015 06:57:13 AM CDT TwinCities.com
$H�������,��`���` f�� ` Allegations by the state that a Maplewood funeral home left bodies in
` ""�,_ � various states of decomposition are not true,the lawyer representing
� �'��� �'"" ����� the funeral home said.
Maple Oaks-Phalen Park Funeral Home at 2528 Stiliwater Road was
" shut down last month by the Minnesota Department of Health.The
X� � } order prohibits the funeral home from embalming,cremating,casketing
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t i or transporting dead bodies.
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�`{`.� ` ,� � �; ��;�,«r ° � � ,-r� 4 Maple Oaks,opened by funeral directors E.Peter Vasey and David
"*; � ��'!` l �+�`f���^��'� _ Thorsell in 1976,was frst cited in March when a Health Department
,� � � � ,�� y� }y�� �� � �� investigator found missing records and unclean conditions in
� t,:��r` r tt� ��r � ; � ��l�` �� � ° preparation and embalming rooms.
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i � The inspector noted actions that needed to be taken and issued two
�� � � � ����� y � ' °�-_�' � �` r� �"' fines totaling$20,000,according to a document from the state's office
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�r�� �i �� �� �� � ���,�' �j �,' �,���, � of administrative hearings.
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�*��?� ��� z�'��� �`:a; ,' �� To call the bodies decomposed is hyperbole,said Michael Sharkey,the
� ;' � `��,��'� funeral home's attorney."IYs a misunderstanding of embalming by the
�,,� ..��.�„,� state inspector."
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`" �"" F '`�"` `''"'"'""�"'' Sharkey,who is a former funeral home director,said he saw the bodies
in question,and they had"natural dehydration"in the fingers and toes that occurs after several days.The bodies were being embalmed for Hmong
funerals.
Traditional Hmong funeral visitations last 24 hours a day for up to seven days.For some Hmong families,more than one body cannot be on the
same premises once a funeral has begun.
Maple Oaks-Phalen Park helps the local Hmong community,Sharkey said."They will often do some of the embalming and holding so that other
funeral homes in the area who were holding those services would have a chance to honor those beliefs,"he said.
HMONG RITUALS
Chu Wu,the owner of Koob Moo Funeral Chapel in St.Paul,said Hmong families have different ways of handling the funeral process.
"ThaYs complicated for the mainstream to understand.Once you start to handle the cases,you realize that each has its own way and each funeral
director has to depend on the family's request,"Wu said.
Many Hmong believe the prescribed rituals must be performed so that the deceased can travel back in time--to birth--and journey successfully to
a new life.
Some push the burial back weeks so that all family members can travel to see the body.
The challenge is a lack of Hmong funeral homes,Wu said.There are four in the metro.St. Paul alone has a Hmong population close to 70,000.
"We don't have enough funeral homes to host all the services as fast as we could,"he said.
Koob Mu Funeral Chapel has relied on Maple Oaks and other nearby funeral homes to help with embalming,Wu said.
Sharkey said the state's actions have been financially and emotionally devastating for directors Vasey and Thorsell.
"Forty years of ethical work and goodwill has been called into question by the state in what we think is a misunderstanding...iYs wiped away in an
instant.It's very upsetting for them,"he said.
Sharkey said the accusation of missing records is a misunderstanding of how Maple Oaks'records are kept.
"The paperwork is all there,but it may not have been in the form accessible in a way the state was looking or hoping for,"Sharkey said."Going
forward,we have taken steps to make sure any future papenvork is kept in a way that is a little bit easier to access."
A date for an evidentiary hearing is expected to be set Tuesday during a prehearing conference.
Katie Kather can be reached at 651-228-5006.Follow her at twitter.com/ktkather.