Medical blog

A longtime Pontiac funeral home was forced to close Friday after its owners were evicted from the property, a move that prompted a wave of sympathy in the community and quiet protest in the parking lot.
Five bodies and the cremated remains of 22 others from the House of Burns Memorial Chapel, 195 South Blvd., were taken to the Oakland County Medical Examiner's Office early Friday morning for storage. By midday, one body had been claimed by family members and shipped to another funeral home. Medical examiner staffers were trying to determine next of kin for the other remains.
The funeral home, which has been a staple in Pontiac's struggling south end for more than 30 years, was known for taking care of families, even when they could not pay for services.
Ltanya Williams, a Pontiac woman with family connections to the Burns family, took the eviction personally.
"When they do this to this business, they do it to all of us, because we are family here," she said.
Property records show several thousand dollars in tax liens on the funeral home.
Early Friday morning, bailiffs from Pontiac's 50th District Court arrived with an eviction notice and began removing equipment and placing it in the parking lot.
Medical examiner administrator Robert Gerds said his office had been working with authorities days before the eviction to make sure the remains were handled properly.
Still, for the friends and neighbors who have depended on the funeral home for generations, the sight of empty caskets and office furniture piled in the parking lot was shocking.
"Where is the respect for the families, for the community?" said an outraged Robbie Samples, 42, a Pontiac resident who said her parents and grandparents were close friends with the Burns family.
The family left shortly after the eviction began. H. Bill Maxey, a spokesman for the local chapter of the NAACP, said the family was too distraught to make a statement.
Pontiac Police Officer Datanyen Myers arrived at 7 a.m. to keep an eye on the crowd. "This is where my grandmother had her services," he said.
Late Friday, it was unclear whether the families of those removed from the funeral home already had paid for services -- or whether they would have to pay again at another funeral home.
L.L. BRASIER
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