Several months ago, Anglican Watch filed a complaint against Pam Stephens and Williamson Memorial Funeral Home and Cremation Services for what we believe was spectacularly inappropriate behavior towards Angie Solomon following the death of Grant Solomon. State regulators ruled in our favor, but appear to have gone for a slap-on-the-wrist approach to the matter and issued a reprimand to the funeral home.
Among the allegations are the following:
- That the funeral home destroyed Grant’s clothes and other belongings without authorization, then lied about the matter.
- That Stephens demonstrated hostility and inappropriate behavior towards Angie Solomon.
- That Stephens improperly interjected herself into the divorce of Angie and Aaron Solomon by filing an affidavit in the proceeding.
- That Stephens’ affidavit was false and misleading and not based on first-hand knowledge.
- That Stephens inappropriately excluded Angie, the custodial parent, from all decisionmaking.
Most shocking are allegations that the funeral home broke Grant’s ankles to fit him into an undersized casket.
We complained about these and several related matters, but declined to provide some items of documentation in our possession due to the possibility of a civil suit against Stephens and the funeral home.
The regulatory agency in charge of funeral homes counts Stephens as a member, and she was absent from the agency’s last meeting.
Anglican Watch is working to obtain additional details and will publish those as quickly as possible.
In the meantime, we have several thoughts on this matter:
- Funeral directors, like Caesar’s wife, should be above reproach. Thus, if you have to ask the question, you probably already know the answer.
- There was no reason for Stephens’ alleged fabrications about Grant’s belongings.
- We are absolutely gobsmacked about the allegations that the funeral home broke Grant’s legs.
- Why on this green earth Stephens thought it appropriate to wade into a divorce between two clients is beyond our comprehension.
- Consumers who support the right of women and children to be free from coercive control and abuse should not use this funeral home. Ever. Even Stephen’s decision to take sides in a divorce — and against the custodial parent, who should have had an equal say in planning the funeral — is so spectacularly inappropriate that we would not consider using this facility under any circumstances. Now that the funeral home is owned by Park Lawn, a Canadian company, we similarly recommend against doing business with any other Park Lawn facility until it addresses this stunning meltdown in professional ethics.
- Anglican Watch has directly informed Park Lawn of our concerns and did not receive a response, so the company is fair game for a boycott. Consumers wishing to avoid this ethical crock of goo can find a list of Park Lawn properties here.
Put in other words, if we were hit by a car — or maybe a baseball bat — anywhere near Franklin, TN and actively dying, our last words would be: “Anywhere but Williamson.”
Yes, we have strong feelings about the alleged issues involving this funeral home and Pam Stephens.
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