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Blog Entry 47 of 80 Grave Concerns: Inside Grand View Memorial Park

News you can use regarding Grand View Memorial Park, Glendale, CA's oldest cemetery, which has been closed for regular business since June 13, 2006, due to legal and financial problems. Lisa Burks also runs the website GrandViewMemorialPark.info.

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Garcin says disinterment was "right thing to do."

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Contributed by: Lisa Burks on 5/2/2007

"I know this was the right thing to do and I'm glad that it's accomplished," former Glendale mayor Bob Garcin said yesterday afternoon, after his father and stepmother's cremated remains were removed from Grand View Memorial Park.

With so little mainstream media coverage of such procedures now beginning to take place inside Grand View's gates, Bob wanted to go public with his experience so he graciously invited me to witness and report on the disinterment of Edwin and Lucille Garcin's ashes.

"I hope it helps others who are considering making the same choice," he said, again noting that he wasn't sure he could do it if his folks were buried full-bodied in caskets.

Per the court order that approved Bob's petition to disinter the ashes, I was not allowed to take any photos of the actual procedure, due to concerns (mainly stated by defense attorneys in court documents) over public or media displays of would-be evidence in the unresolved civil class action lawsuit.

A small group of us gathered at Grand View at noon. We were let inside the chained and padlocked gates by a courteous member of the defense team representing the cemetery.

Besides the defense rep, Bob and myself, four employees from Eternal Hills Memorial Park in Oceanside, Calif., were also present. Plaintiff attorney Paul Ayers arrived to make sure everyone had gotten inside okay, but was unable to stay because he had another case matter to attend to.

Shortly after noon, we drove over to the Garden of Prayer, an urn garden located outside of the North Mausoleum, notable for the large, granite bible centerpiece.

The Garcin spaces were located in the left corner of the garden. Their individual, black granite markers, found to be in good shape for their age (dating back to 1954 and 1966) were cemented in atop the approximately 3'-high brick retaining wall, with the remains buried in dirt behind the markers and underneath in-ground flower holders.

A third marker on that area of the wall was not engraved, and Bob suspected his stepmother may have purchased it for her longtime friend who had no immediate family. He won't know for sure until paperwork can be found, and he said he intended to try to solve this new mystery.

Two Eternal Hills groundsmen, Leo and Alfredo, began the process by prying Edwin and Lucille's markers off the wall with shovels. They came off with relative ease and set to the side. A bit of cement remained on each, which the guys later chipped off before the stones were placed in the trunk of Bob's car.

No formal ceremony was planned, so Leo and Alfredo immediately began the job of gingerly digging out relatively narrow space of dirt between the inner and outer retaining walls with narrow shovels, first above Edwin's spot.

Approximately 20 minutes later, the top of a small concrete vault was reached. Next came the process of excavating the earth around the vault, with very little wiggle room in which to work, maybe an inch or so on any side. The procedure took longer than usual due to having to work within such a small space, Leo told me.

Everyone's mood was somber and respectful.

At times, Bob wept.

"No one should have to go through this," Bob said several times, the stress of this move that he's been working on now for almost a year evident in his quiet voice.

Aside from occassional small talk among the witnesses, or discussions about the digging strategy by cemetery workers, it was extremely quiet. Just nature - birds, the wind - and the sound of shovels digging into dirt or the crunching of dried leaves below our feet as we moved around the area to get various views inside the growing hole.

By 12:55 the vault containing the remains was completely liberated. It was lifted out of the wall by Leo and Alfredo and placed into a plastic bag inside a heavy plastic storage box.

Debbie Allen, a licensed funeral director (as required by law to be in attendance) from Eternal Hills, recorded the time and placed paperwork inside the bag identifying it as being Edwin, before securing the bag shut and placing the box inside the cemetery van.

Five minutes later, Lucille's vault was removed and the same procedure was done for her remains. Allen said that the remains would be then taken directly to Eternal Hills for re-interment in a niche previously selected by Bob, near crypts that he also purchased for he and his wife.

The vaults, which measured approximately 14" x 10" wide and 8" high were in remarkably good condition, showing no signs of visible water damage that I could see. According to Julian Garcia, also in attendance from Eternal Hills, who Bob calls his "moral support," remains are traditionally put into plastic bags before being put into such vaults for burial.

Once at Eternal Hills, the remains would be carefully transferred to bronze urns which will be interred behind a sealed, marble-fronted wall of the niche, and engraved with the Garcin's names and death dates.

By 1:09 p.m. it was over and we had all exited the cemetery gates, which were locked once more until this Sunday's scheduled limited visitation.

During the process, Bob's mood ranged from slightly nervous (his hands clenched and held to his chin) to calm (looking in the hole, or distracting himself by reading markers nearby) to grief-strickened tears.

"I didn't know what to expect, and although I was stoic at first, it became an emotional event," Bob told me as we drove out the gates.

Bob, Julian and I stopped outside the cemetery gates to chat for a few more minutes and to get photos (now that the official procedure was completed) of the markers in his trunk. "I'm going to take these home and place them in my garden," Bob said.

The final leg of Edwin and Lucille's journey will occur this week when Bob meets with Julian and Debbie at Eternal Hills to make arrangements for the re-interment this week.

When that happens he will be joined by his wife (who chose not to attend the disinterment, opting to stay at the home of old friends nearby the cemetery), his older brother (who was physically unable to make the trip to Glendale for the disinterment) and sister-in-law.

Bob is responsible for all costs related to the disinterment, as is anyone who petitions to bury or remove loved ones from Grand View. As a member of the class action lawsuit against the cemetery he may recoup that money one day but for now he's just glad to have his folks in a new resting place.

"Now when I go to Eternal Hills, my folks will be there and I can visit them. I'm happy for that. I know they are in good hands now," said Bob.

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