‘We have no closure’: Southeast Queens family demands justice from Jamaica funeral home after wrongful cremation of 93-year-old matriarch’s remains

An already grieving family had their sorrows compounded when a Jamaica funeral home allegedly cremated their 93-year-old matriarch against her final wishes to be buried in her home country of Guyana.

Euvy Rodney and her husband emigrated to the U.S. in 1993 and raised their 11 children in Jamaica. Her family includes 55 grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Many of her family members called for the New York State Bureau of Funeral Directing to investigate the J. Foster Phillips Funeral Home in Jamaica for ignoring directions that were printed on her death certificate to repatriate her remains to Guyana to be buried alongside her grandmother in the family plot.

“We have lost our mom twice. We have lost her in death, we have lost her body, we have no closure for our mother,” her daughter Christine Weaver said. “For all she has done on earth, that’s how you treat her?”

Her sister Ramona Rodney Park grew emotional as she spoke in front of the funeral home.

“We are broken. Our mother was so much more than this tragedy. She was a mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, sister, friend, and so forth,” she said. “She was a woman of irreverent faith and friend faithfully, loved unconditionally, and devoted her life to the caring of others. She deserved to be treated with the same dignity and respect in death.”

She collapsed into the arms of civil rights leaders Rev. Kevin McCall who is supporting the family’s demand for justice.

“We are calling for this funeral home to be shut down immediately,” McCall said. “There was no conversation at all regarding cremation. Everyone in the family knew, the funeral home knew that she wanted to be buried, but the funeral home failed to do their job.”

He said the family had filed a complaint with the Bureau of Funeral Directing, a division in the NYS Health Department. Attorney John Eiefrakis of the EEF Law Firm is representing the family.

“Cremation was never considered at all. It was never on the table. Miss Rodney’s wishes were extremely clear to her family because her desire was not only to go home to Guyana to be buried in her family plot,” Eiefrakis said. “She had a very specific wish to be alongside her grandmother.” 

He stated that the directions are on her death certificate.

“It’s a section that says burial or cremation and it said burial,” Eiefrakis said. So they knew clearly that it was not supposed to be a cremation.”

He added that there has been no communication with the funeral home since he launched his investigation.

“Our hearts are with the family affected by this situation. We are deeply sorry for the distress this has caused and we are committed to supporting them with care, compassion and respect during this incredibly difficult time,” J. Foster Phillips Funeral Home said in a statement. “For generations, J. Foster Phillips has been a trusted, family-owned funeral home, serving our community for 97 years with care and compassion. As a third-generation business, we have always been committed to treating every individual with dignity, respect and the highest standard of care. We remain committed to accountability and to honoring the trust placed in us by the families we serve. Out of respect for those involved, we will not be providing further comment at this time.”

QNS reached out to the Bureau of Funeral Directing and is awaiting a response.