Sexton Alan Bruns Terminated After Mix-Up in Grave Opening and Complaint About Cemetery Records

By Pauline Masson – 

After more than 30 years in the post, the city has ended the role of Alan Bruns as city sexton.

The action was approved by four aldermen during a closed meeting following the regular board of aldermen (BOA) meeting August 20. Aldermen Debbie Kelley, James Cleeve, Scott Lesh and Karla Stewart voted to terminate the contract with Mr. Bruns immediately. Alderman Rafael Madrigal abstained. Alderman Anna Meadows was not present.

Alan Bruns was named Sexton on his father’s death in 1988 – the third member of his family to manage the cemetery – and has held the post until now, except for the years 2014-2018 when Mayor Palmore did not appoint him.

The closed meeting action last Tuesday followed comments by Dave Myers, owner of Bell Funeral Home.

Mr. Myers made an impassioned plea for the city to correct the cemetery records. He cited a recent burial in which the sexton had hired diggers to open a grave that was not empty.

“He (the sexton) took it on himself and opened another grave. He couldn’t bury someone there because someone was already there,”  Myers said. “We need to fix the cemetery records or have a lawsuit.”

Myers said the sexton is in charge of the cemetery records. “If this is not the sexton’s problem it’s you guys,” he said.

Officials did not respond to Mr. Myers’ remarks but went into closed meeting at the close of the regular BOA meeting.

This concern over incorrect cemetery records should not surprise anyone. I have two friends who have told me of cemetery records errors in their family members’ burials in the city cemetery that caused family dismay. 

One related how she and her father stood at the grave site and watched her mother be buried in a grave one row above the family plat because the wrong grave had been opened. My friend objected but rather than extend the grief associated with the burial of a beloved wife and mother her father shushed her. “It’s okay,” he said, “Just let them put her there. It’s close.”  It always rankled her that her mother and father are not buried side by side due to an error.

Another well known lady told me that the wrong name is carved on the gravestone one of her ancestors. The name on the stone is what is recorded in the city records, not the name of the individual buried there. Everyone in the family knows whose grave it is, “But at least the record ought to be corrected,” she said. “Maybe someday I’ll take that on.”

I’m not mentioning these two ladies’ names because neither sought recourse from the city and I did not tell them I was writing about this.

Also, in recent memory I stood in line for what seemed like an hour a few feet from an open grave and a canopy covered row of seats at a local church burial. It turned out the grave diggers had opened the wrong grave.  Finally, the spouse of the deceased person said the familiar, “It’s okay. Go ahead and bury him there.”

Again, the name is being omitted out of respect for the privacy of the individuals involved.

There has been one burial in my memory where a family member went to the city sexton for grave opening and gave the pet name that her deceased relative was known by, which the sexton turned in at city hall. But relatives later gave the sexton the formal name of the deceased which is what he carved on the stone. So the records that show the family nickname and the name on the grave stone don’t match but it is the same person.

Back in the Mayor Jeffrey Palmore days, the City of Pacific hired a cemetery expert who was the owner/manager of several cemeteries to review and correct the city cemetery records. After a couple of weeks of meeting with officials and relatives of those buried in the two city cemeteries, the expert threw up his hands and declined to complete the study.

When I telephoned him for a clarification, he said he did not want me to use his name because the issue was so personal and so contentious that he thought that real resolution could take a lifetime. 

“Perfection is probably not possible here,” he said.

The expert also said the reality of occupied graves not being properly marked was common in many cemeteries, especially older cemeteries. One remedy he suggested was for the city to rent a ground penetrating radar unit, similar to a push lawn mower, to run over every unmarked grave site in the cemetery to determine if remains are buried there. The city discussed that but did not take the action.

The point I want to make is that few issues have been discussed in city meetings as much as city cemetery records. And no easy answers, no willingness and no practical method has been put forward to correct all the errors.

Mr. Myers suggestion that the sexton was responsible for the records is not supported by state statute.

State statutes require cemetery owners, which is the city, to keep records of all burials, including the name of the deceased, the date of burial, the location of the grave and, if known, the name and address of the funeral director. 

As Mr. Myers made his complaint he handed records to the aldermen to support his claim, the mayor thanked him for speaking and moved on to the next agenda item.

No one among the officials asked a single question, or said they would review Mr. Myers request about the records and determine the right course of action.

Instead, at the end of the meeting they went into a closed meeting, out of earshot of citizens. 

What is baffling about the BOA decision to go to the back room to discuss the cemetery records, or the problem of opening graves that were occupied, is that the issue of cemetery records does not appear to qualify for closed meeting discussion.

City revenue and expenses are all public records. The sexton is not an employee. The city contract agreement with the Sexton specifically states, “City and sexton agree that the sexton shall at all times be considered an independent contractor and shall not be considered an employee of the city.”

The public has a need to know how the city manages the cemetery. With no city manager to oversee the contract with the sexton, and now no sexton, we have to ask ourselves, are we back to the Mayor Jeffrey Palmore days when the issue of cemetery records will be aired in meeting after meeting.

At least Mayor Palmore made his claims in open meetings so citizens understood what was at stake. When aldermen voted unanimously to give the handwritten cemetery records to the sexton because his ancestors had done the writing, one citizen sued the city and the court ordered that the old records be delivered to city hall.

At one time, one of the city’s most effective citizen committees was the cemetery committee that paid attention to all cemetery matters. They created a map to all grave sites, marked off veterans’ graves for Boy Scouts to place flags there on political holidays, raised huge amounts of money to completely restore both cemeteries, personally guided individuals to ancestors’ graves and reviewed all questions and requests involving the cemeteries. But the board of aldermen disbanded that committee leaving the city cemeteries without community support and critical observation.

I have to tell you . . . In my opinion it would be remarkable if the current board of aldermen could come up with a strategy to make the city cemetery records as accurate as possible, disclose who is in charge and how complaints about cemetery records are handled. But they should do it in public so citizens know that grave and plat owners and relatives of those interred are treated right.

And, this is just food for thought: The state of Ohio formed an official agency to tackle the issue of cemetery complaints. The Ohio Cemetery Dispute Resolution Commission is made up of nine appointed individuals assigned to hear complaints brought by individuals who are experiencing a problem with any cemetery in the state. The commission is charged with solving complaints by using informal techniques of mediation, conciliation and persuasion.