Share and Follow
A grieving widow from New Jersey has expressed her outrage over an alleged mishap at a local cemetery, where her late husband was reportedly buried in the wrong plot, as detailed in a lawsuit recently filed.
Debra Poller has taken legal action against Stanhope Union Cemetery in Netcong, accusing them of mistakenly burying her 69-year-old husband, Alan, in an adjacent plot rather than the family gravesite she had arranged for following his passing on November 30, according to documents obtained by NJ.com.
Poller, who resides in Lake Hopatcong, discovered the cemetery’s distressing error on December 3, adding to her grief and frustration.
She criticized the cemetery for its lack of “reasonable care and skill” in the burial of her husband, a Hungarian immigrant who had moved to the United States at the age of 17 in 1973. This alleged mistake, she claims, has intensified her emotional distress, as reflected in the lawsuit and his obituary.
The lawsuit contends that the cemetery’s error has inflicted “severe emotional distress and mental anguish” upon Poller, depriving her of the opportunity to properly mourn her husband.
The widow accused the graveyard of negligence and said its actions were “intentional, extreme, reckless and outrageous.”
Alan, a father of two, was a master stone mason in Hungary before settling in Jersey City and then relocating to Colorado, where he met his wife and started two businesses, his obituary said.
The couple late relocated to Lake Hopatcong in 2003, where he enjoyed golfing with his son and friends, watching wildlife on the lake, attending car shows, and spending time with family.
“Al was very proud to be an American,” his obituary said.
Poller is demanding a jury trial and monetary damages.