Marketplace Missteps & Lemonade Markers | 4M #240
Welcome to the two-hundred-and-fortieth edition of Morticians’ Monday Morning Mashup, 4M #240, where we’ll serve up bite-sized, easily-digestible nuggets of the deathcare news you need to crush conversations in the week ahead. Bon appetit!
Making lemonade …
… out of lemons. You know the saying — and it’s quite appropriate in the case of 11-year-old Kaylee Hernandez of Texas. After Kaylee’s father passed away two years ago, her family couldn’t afford to purchase a headstone. Last weekend, Kaylee took matters into her own hands and set up a lemonade stand to raise funds for the marker. Her stand was a huge success, raising more than $3,000. Kaylee’s family ordered the marker from her local funeral home and it will be delivered and placed in a matter of weeks.
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Marketplace felony
It’s not unusual to see ads for cemetery plots on Facebook Marketplace, but as with anything on the site, buyers definitely should beware. Case in point: In 2023, two cemetery workers (allegedly) posted and sold plots on Marketplace and pocketed the proceeds. Last week, authorities finally charged the pair with felonies for their actions and for (allegedly) depositing $1 million + of fraudulent funds into their own bank accounts.
More millions
Speaking of misappropriated deathcare funds … Lawmakers in Connecticut have created a $1 million fund to provide financial relief to victims of former funeral director Philip Pietras. Pietras faces larceny, embezzlement, and fraud charges for (allegedly) stealing more than $790,000 in prepaid funeral funds and used the money for gambling, cruises, and hotel stays. The state’s new “Act Concerning Unlawful Funeral Service Practices” will allow victims to file claims of up to $10,000 each beginning in July 2027. By that time, the group that is working on the Act hopes to resolve nagging questions, such as one about the impact a lump sum of $10,000 would have on victims receiving state benefits, such as nursing home patients.
Freedom 15
Oklahoma may very well become the 15th state to legalize natural organic reduction as early as next week. All House Bill 3660 lacks is the governor’s signature, as the aptly-named “Burial Funeral Bill” has been passed by both the state’s House and Senate. That journey was not without its rough spots, though, as at least one representative fiercely opposed the bill, calling it “turning people into byproducts” and “humanure.” Supporters won out, though, arguing that no one would be forced to be composted and no funeral homes would be mandated to purchase the equipment and offer the service. They just want options, and when the governor adds his name to the bill, they will have just that.
