NY funeral home apologizes for cremating wrong woman

NEW YORK, N.Y. – A Bronx funeral home has apologized to the son of a woman it mistakenly cremated during a botched funeral.

The New York Times reported (http://nyti.ms/1Rm9aiC ) Wednesday that McCall’s Bronxwood Funeral Home sent a letter to Donald Little admitting its mistake. The letter also asked for Little’s signature so McCall’s could amend documents to show that Annie Little had been cremated.

Little said he refused to sign the letter. His lawyer said he intends to sue the funeral home for breaching his right to choose cremation or burial for his 82-year-old mother, who was produced for viewing to the wrong family and subsequently cremated.

The wrong family had noticed something was off during her open casket viewing but figured her appearance had changed due to a long bout of cancer.

Even though he knows his mother had a large send-off, Little still feels grief over missing her ceremony.

“She’s dressed up and paraded around in other people’s clothes and jewelry,” said Little. “People kissing her and taking pictures. It’s heartbreaking I couldn’t do that.”

A spokesman for the funeral home said it was awaiting Little’s authorization to transfer his mother’s remains to Calverton Cemetery for burial.

“We offered to have a limousine take him to Calverton Cemetery with his mother’s remains, but as of today, Mr. Little has been unable to return to McCall’s to approve these details, spokesman George Arzt said.

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Information from: The New York Times, http://www.nytimes.com