Texas cemetery buried ‘stranger’ in family plot instead of daughter, $1 million lawsuit claims
A Texas woman is demanding seven-figures in damages after the wrong person’s remains were buried in a grave meant for her deceased sibling.
Clota Rainey, 75, says a “stranger” was interred next to her late parents instead of her sister, Willie Jean Gamble, according to a state lawsuit reviewed by The Independent.
Gamble, who died in 2024 at the age of 78, could not be buried on the day of her funeral and her body was put in storage for an extended period – where it sustained “severe deterioration,” Rainey’s complaint says – before ultimately being laid to rest in a spot contrary to Gamble’s wishes.
Paradise Funeral Home & Cemetery’s “carelessness in handling [Gamble’s] final disposition caused [Rainey] severe mental anguish and complicated her grief,” the complaint contends.
Service Corp. International, which owns Paradise Funeral Home & Cemetery, did not immediately respond on Tuesday to a request for comment.
“When the time comes to plan a funeral or choose a final resting place, you want to work with a team you can trust,” the Paradise Funeral Home & Cemetery website tells prospective clients. “Our experienced and caring team blends traditional values with contemporary products and services to celebrate every life in a very personal way.”
On April 10, 2024, Gamble, a public school teacher, died after a long battle against cancer. Rainey then contacted Paradise for embalming, funeral services, and burial, as she and her family had long owned a plot there with six spaces – one for each family member, according to the complaint, which was filed in Harris County Court on March 18.
On April 20, 2024, Rainey arrived at the cemetery for her final goodbyes, “to find that a stranger had been buried that morning in the family plot where [her] sister was supposed to be buried,” the complaint alleges.
“Because of Defendant’s carelessness, Plaintiff was unable to bury her sister on the day of the service and the Decedent had to be stored for more than a week,” the complaint goes on. “Defendant’s failure to bury the Decedent timely caused severe deterioration to the Decedent’s body. Defendant did not remove the stranger timely, and the Decedent had to be buried in a different grave in the family plot.”
The complaint does not provide details of what happened to the other body, and whether or not it has since been moved to the proper place.
Later on the day of the botched burial, another one of Gamble’s sisters contacted the media, telling a local reporter that the family “tried our best to do right for her,” but still fell short, Sibbie Curry told Click2Houston.com.
“Someone else is sitting in her grave,” Curry told the outlet.
Curry said they first suspected something had gone awry when, following the funeral service, Paradise employees seemed to be steering her away from the family plot.
“God knows I pray this doesn’t happen to another family,” she told Click2Houston.com at the time. “This is heartbreaking.”
