Locked Galilee Gardens leaves patrons wondering about status of pre-purchased graves

April 11--Preparing for the inevitable, Lee Broyles decided years ago to buy his gravesite at Galilee Memorial Gardens, alongside that of his mother, Lela Broyles. He even purchased a headstone, complete with a picture of him smiling and wearing a white suit.

Now Broyles, 62, worries that the investigation of Galilee's operations could prevent him from using the prepaid plot if something happens to him in the near future.

"I'm afraid I don't have that much time," said Broyles, chuckling slightly when he spoke of the possibly lengthy inquiry at the cemetery on Ellis Road in Bartlett.

Broyles and other future Galilee clients are in limbo as the nine-acre site remains closed during an investigation of criminal charges against owner Jemar Lambert. A Davidson County chancellor granted the state Department of Commerce and Industry oversight of Galilee in the wake of accusations that range from poor record-keeping, to lost bodies, and stacking and crushing of multiple caskets in the same grave.

Meanwhile, people who prepaid for Galilee plots wonder what options they will have if they or a relative dies.

"We are still reviewing the financials and records of the cemetery, and the property remains an active crime scene," said Katelyn Abernathy, director of communications for the state department of Commerce and Insurance. "(T)herefore, we cannot reopen the property for burials. Individuals with immediate needs are encouraged to make alternate arrangements for their loved ones."

Former U.S. Atty. David Kustoff, acting as deputy receiver for the state, said people have been calling to ask what to do in case of a death.

"It's unfortunate that there are people who bought the pre-need policies and, at the present time, the cemetery will not be able to honor those contracts," Kustoff said.

Lawsuits seeking class-action status against Galilee and local funeral homes that did business with the troubled cemetery may eventually address the problem, but death, of course, requires immediate action. Howard Manis, a member of one legal team challenging Galilee, said people who have not collected on what they paid are a subset of his class of plaintiffs. Not only are there questions of where to go with Galilee closed, but what happens to the couple married 50 years when a surviving spouse may have to be buried elsewhere.

"That's an injustice in itself," Manis said.

This is not the first time Broyles has had concerns about Galilee. In 2009, he was at odds with Jemar Lambert's father, Jesse, who ran Galilee until his death in 2010. Five years ago, Broyles questioned where bodies were buried, and told The Commercial Appeal his sister, Dorothy, who died in August 2009, was buried in the wrong grave, based on plans the family expressed when Broyles bought plots at Galilee.

Concerns like those of Broyles are a common refrain heard by those answering the telephone at Shelby County Dist. Atty. Gen. Amy Weirich's office, where officials said they are "compiling large amounts of information and going through records."

Broyles is already setting aside cash and paying for an insurance policy to cover an alternative gravesite in case the Galilee situation remains unresolved, preventing him from being laid to rest under the headstone that already bears his picture.

He worries when officials start working on Galilee, they could see his headstone and fail to notice there is no date of death yet.

"We cannot control life and death," Kustoff said. "At some point, when the cemetery is no longer a crime scene, there will be an evaluation process on how the various contracts are handled."

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