Grand View Memorial reopens gates

Canceled insurance policy had closed the cemetery for a week during the holidays.NORTHEAST GLENDALE -- Families with loved ones buried at Grand View Memorial Park are welcome back.

The cemetery reopened its gates Saturday morning after being closed for a week because of insurance restrictions, officials said.

“The insurance was canceled, of all days, as of Dec. 24,” said Moshe Goldman, secretary and director of Grand View Memorial Inc., adding that the notice of cancellation came just one week before the scheduled termination.

“We asked them not to close on Christmas Eve,” he said. “Believe me, it was not our choice. I knew it would be, unfortunately, a terrible time.”

The cancellation did not come as a result of a lapse in payments, Goldman said, adding that the cemetery always paid its insurance fees on time. Goldman believes the cancellation, instead, came as a result of recent probes into the cemetery’s practices -- the state is currently investigating allegations that Grand View mishandled thousands of cremated remains and several skeletal remains.

“I think it probably had to do with all the sensationalized stories in all the local papers about this place,” he said.

Since Dec. 24, Goldman has been working to renew the cemetery’s liability insurance policies, policies that maintain the cemetery’s ability to operate.

On Friday, he was able to ensure the necessary insurance needed to keep the grounds open, he said, allowing for the cemetery to reopen at 7 a.m. Saturday.”It’s pretty devastating to not be able to see passed away loved ones,” La Crescenta resident Frank Dorosy said of the closure.

Dorosy and his immediate family are considering exhuming his mother, who is buried at Grand View, and reinterring her at Forest Lawn. They are also considering buying a plot for his father -- who currently has a pre-paid plot at Grand View next to his wife -- at Forest Lawn.

“The hits keep coming,” he said. “I wonder what’s going to happen in the future. If they’re closing for a week, what’s going to happen next?”

Despite the cemetery being able to work through its insurance troubles, Dorosy is still wary of the establishment.

“Personally, I don’t think there’s any comfort with that cemetery and there never has been for me from day one,” he said.

During a routine surprise inspection in October, a state inspector uncovered a closet filled with the cremated remains of about 4,000 people who were never buried or properly disposed of, many of which dated back to the 1930s, ‘40s, ‘50s and ‘60s, said Kevin Flanagan, a spokesman for the California Department of Consumer Affairs.

In November, the state issued a petition for interim suspension and prohibited the cemetery from conducting new business for an indefinite amount of time, pending the investigation.

According to the suspension order, many other violations were uncovered as well.

In some instances, cremated remains were found in a dumpster or spilled on the floor. Remains were also not buried at proper depth requirements, were mixed when remains were not completely removed from the cremation chamber before a second set of remains was placed inside and accurate cemetery records were not being kept, the petition said.

The petition also alleged that the cemetery grounds were not being properly maintained, despite the cemetery having loaned itself $40,000 from its Endowment Care Fund, a trust created to maintain the cemetery.

The state has allowed the cemetery to stay open, but under different management.

Goldman took over daily operations at Grand View from Marsha Lee Howard after the initial investigation.

No new developments in the state’s investigation have been made, Flanagan said.

Goldman would not comment on the investigation, but said state officials are pleased with the efforts the cemetery has made in recent months to remedy some of the issues.

A hearing will be held Jan. 19 to determine the final disposition of the investigation, he said.

“Whatever the issues were in the temporary suspension order, we will go over those and find what resolutions there are in the case,” he said.

* TANIA CHATILA covers public safety and courts. She may be reached at (818) 637-3232 or by e-mail at tania.chatila@

latimes.com.