A Michigan mortician has denounced the son who followed in his footsteps after the younger mortician was accused “shocking” treatment of the corpses in his care.
O’Neil Swanson, owner of Swanson Funeral Home in Detroit, told MLive.com in a statement that his facility has “no legal or business connection” to his son, O’Neil Swanson II, after state regulators this week discovered unrefrigerated human bodies stored in a garage without air conditioning for as long as five months at the Swanson Funeral Home in Flint.
The younger Swanson’s license was suspended after the allegations.
The elder Swanson characterized the allegations against his son as “shocking,” saying they “go against principle” of mortuary science.
“We have served the community for 59 years and have established an unchallenged record of providing experienced, compassionate service,” Swanson said in a statement issued by spokesman Bob Berg. “I want to make it clear to all that the steps taken by the state against the Flint business do not impact us in any way.”
The elder Swanson operates two funeral homes in Detroit and another in Pontiac, according to Berg’s statement.
Neither Swanson II nor attorney Mike Cox, who previously represented the funeral home, could be reached for comment, MLive.com reports.
The Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs has also suspended the mortuary science license of Swanson II. State inspectors say they found maggots on the floor of the facility’s garage in Flint, where unrefrigerated human bodies had been kept.
Inside the funeral home, inspectors reported finding an unsanitary preparation room that lacked needed supplies for embalming and casket pillows soaked with bodily fluids in a hallway, WXYZ reports.
The state attorney general’s office is expected to review the findings and decide if Swanson will face criminal charges, the station reports.
At least one family from Detroit is now wondering if their relatives were treated with dignity at the shuttered facility. Tysha Whitchard told WXYZ she’s still waiting for her 62-year-old father’s remains after they were sent o the funeral home in Flint to be cremated last month.
“It’s gut-wrenching,” Whitchard told WXYZ. “It’s already hard enough having to go through this type of situation with a loved one, especially your father.”
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