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October 31, 2008

Shut down

Cemetery closing, previous sales may not be honored

By Trent Moore

Staff Writer

When her time comes, Christine Ferguson is no longer sure she will be buried next to her recently deceased husband, Kenneth. The cemetery she and Kenneth purchased plots at years ago — Cullman Memory Gardens — is closing its doors today. Due to the circumstances of the close, previous sales may no longer be honored.

“I just buried my husband there, on Oct. 21,” Ferguson said. “My husband and I had bought plots there a long time ago, and my son and me are also supposed to be buried there.”

The cemetery will be shut down beginning today, in hopes that it can be sold in the future.

“Our department is unable to continue financial operations,” Department of Insurance Spokesman Ragan Ingram said. “It is our hope that we will still be able to find a buyer who will honor those (previous) purchases, but that is no longer guaranteed. This is highly regrettable, but there’s just no money to keep it going.”

Had the business been sold in the past two years, a stipulation would have required the purchaser to honor all previous plot sales.

Now, with the cemetery still not sold, that stipulation has been dropped to make the business a more viable sale.

“If facilities are sold to a buyer now, the guarantee of (previous) plot purchases is no longer available,” Ingram said.

Facing financial difficulties in 2006, stewardship of Cullman Memory Gardens was taken over from Mike Graham and Associates by the Alabama Department of Insurance, in hopes that the business could be sold to another owner. Graham died shortly after.

“Unfortunately, we haven’t been able to sell it,” Ingram said.

Ingram said the cemetery facilities will sit idle for the time being, in the hopes that the business can still be sold.

“The facilities will be there,” he said. “It is our strong hope that we will be able to sell it.”

When reached at the Cullman Memory Gardens office early Thursday afternoon, the manager — who refused to give her name — said she was not at liberty to discuss the situation.

All of the existing records from Cullman Memory Gardens will be maintained at Cullman Heritage Funeral Home.

Cullman Heritage Funeral Home Manager Doug Williams, former manager of Williams-McCracken Funeral Home — which was purchased by Mike Graham & Associates at the same time as Cullman Memory Gardens — said he volunteered to manage the records to ensure they are not lost.

Williams left Williams-McCracken Funeral Home shortly after Graham bought the company, and purchased Cullman Heritage Funeral Home.



‰ Trent Moore can be reached by e-mail at trentm@cullmantimes.com, or by telephone at 734-2131, ext. 225.

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