Beaver Falls funeral director fined after state says he kept human remains for months

June 05--BEAVER FALLS -- The state has fined a local funeral director for keeping human remains for months without special permission as a funeral home underwent financial difficulties, state documents say.

George T. Wise, no address given, was fined nearly $3,589 in May after he failed to obtain special permission from the State Board of Funeral Directors to keep human remains for more than 10 days, the state announced Tuesday.

One man died Sept. 9, 2011, and the body remained at a Beaver Falls funeral home as of Dec. 5 of that year, state documents say.

Another man, Mark A. Nesmith, died around Jan. 22, 2011, and his family had funeral services around Jan. 27, 2011, according to a case file. The family had his remains cremated, but the ashes were being kept by Wise as of Oct. 17, 2012, state documents say.

Wise made several attempts to contact the family of Nesmith, according to a case file. Wise told the state the remains have since been returned.

Complicating the issue was a tax sale that occurred around Dec. 5, 2011, and Wise told the state he was unable to access the funeral home at times, state documents say.

A family member of one of the deceased tried to sue the funeral home, Will T. Leavell Inc. But Hopewell-based lawyer Mike Jones said the case will be discontinued, saying that financial remedies are lacking. A civil lawsuit Jones filed found the funeral home and director had no assets, he said, adding neither the funeral home nor funeral director at the time had insurance.

Jones said Nitia Austin of Ohio paid for the cremation of Roland Brown, her father, but that money was never returned. The September 2011 case in the Wise disciplinary action referred to Austin and Brown.

Wise's attorney declined to comment. No one with the funeral home could be reached Wednesday.

As part of the fines, $2,000 relates to a civil penalty and nearly $1,589 relates to costs of investigation, state spokesman Ronald Ruman said.

The disciplinary action also suspended Wise's license for a two-year period, but that was retroactive to January 2012.

Wise can reapply for his license, but he also needs to comply with another case, which resulted in his license being suspended for 18 months as of Jan. 4, 2012, state documents say. In that case, the Leavell funeral home and Wise negotiated funeral expenses with a guardianship management company for a patient with dementia, state documents say. The costs, $6,296, were placed in a business account for the pair, but a creditor froze the account before it could be placed into escrow, state documents say.

State law requires such money be placed into an escrow account or Pennsylvania bank. Among other actions, that settlement case required the pair to repay the money as restitution.

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