JUDGE ALLOWS FAMILY TO PUT 92-YEAR-OLD INTO HER CRYPT.

Byline: EUGENE TONG Staff Writer

GLENDALE -- When the end came, Geneva Hegemier had arranged to spend eternity beside her parents and grandparents in the family crypt at Grand View Memorial Park.

But fulfilling her last wishes wasn't easy for her survivors because Grand View has been mired in financial and legal problems over the past year.

``We all think that when we make arrangements and sign a contract and pay for everything, it's all going to go smooth,'' said Richard J. Stern, Hegemier's son-in-law who spent nearly two months unraveling red tape to get her interred. ``And in this case, it didn't.''

Hegemier, a Harbor City resident who died Dec. 13 at age 92, is scheduled to be interred today at Grand View -- the first since the troubled cemetery at 1341 Glenwood Road suspended operations in November 2005 over allegations of fiscal mismanagement, mishandling of human remains and resale of graves.

``I'm just glad it's over,'' said Stern of Rancho Palos Verdes, who received permission Wednesday for the interment from a Los Angeles Superior Court judge.

``I don't envy the people who are going through it right now. It's been very unsettling for the family.''

An ongoing class-action lawsuit against Grand View's owners filed by plot owners has restricted interments.

While both sides are negotiating the protocols to restore funeral services, Judge Anthony J. Mohr permitted Stern's request because it did not involve a burial in the ground.

``The biggest issue was we have to confirm the crypt was owned by the family, that it wasn't oversold,'' said Mike Arias, a plaintiff's attorney who is familiar with Stern's case.

Grand View's problems began in 2005 when state inspectors halted operations after discovering the remains of some 4,000 people abandoned on floors, in storage rooms and in trash bins.

Criminal charges were brought against Grand View owner Marsha Lee Howard, but were later dismissed. Howard died in November from complications related to diabetes, according to coroner's officials.

Meanwhile, the civil suit against the cemetery has restricted any changes to the grounds.

eugene.tong(at)dailynews.com

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