Sun, Jul 05 2009
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Published December 29, 2008 07:35 pm - Editor’s note: This is Cullman County’s No. 3 news story of 2008, as picked by the editorial staff of The Cullman Times. By Trent Moore Staff Writer Thousands were affected this year by the closing of the Memory Gardens cemetery, when the State of Alabama closed the cemetery’s doors after two years of receivership. Memory Gardens debacle hurts thousands The Cullman Times Editor’s note: This is Cullman County’s No. 3 news story of 2008, as picked by the editorial staff of The Cullman Times.
By Trent Moore Staff Writer Thousands were affected this year by the closing of the Memory Gardens cemetery, when the State of Alabama closed the cemetery’s doors after two years of receivership. On November 14, nearly a thousand people poured into the Cullman County Courthouse — and packed into the hallway, another courtroom, and down the stairs — in a search for answers. The crowd, mostly plot and crypt owners, showed up in force for a town hall meeting about the recent closing of the Cullman Memory Gardens cemetery. Linda Hudgins, a local resident who owns a handful of plots at the cemetery for her family, said she is very upset with the situation. “I paid for the pre-arranged things, and now they’re telling us this,” she said. “I’m pretty ticked off about it.” Hudgins’ late husband is buried at the cemetery, and she had previously purchased plots there, along with her children. “It just isn’t right, and someone should be held accountable,” she said. A representative from the Alabama Department of Insurance — the agency that took the cemetery into receivership in 2006 — was on hand for the meeting to answer questions and explain the situation. Doug Williams, who has volunteered to keep the cemetery records, was also present. How it started Department of Insurance spokesperson Regan Ingram explained why the agency first took control of the cemetery. “A Texas operation called Mike Graham & Associates —the people who bought Cullman Memory Gardens — licensed to sell pre-need services,” Ingram explained. He noted a 2002 law that requires all businesses that sell pre-need services, such as funeral plans and grave openings, to be under the jurisdiction of the Department of Insurance. “We set up a rotation of audits to go in and examine the books. When we went into Mike Graham & Associates, we saw severe problems. ... He was not sending money to the right places.” 
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