A family is suing a San Diego cemetery over the loss of their father’s remains — which they only discovered when they buried their mother in the same spot 20 years later.
Sidney Cooper was 71 when he died in 2001 and was reportedly buried in the family plot at Greenwood Memorial Park and Mortuary in San Diego.
But two decades later, as the family made arrangements to bury their mother Thelma, 92, who died in March 2023, alongside her father, they were shocked to find his body and coffin were not on the grave.
Cemetery staff who alerted the family to the mistake said they didn’t know where Cooper’s remains were, her daughter Lana Cooper-Jones told the San Diego Union-Tribune.
Cemetery workers discovered that Sidney Cooper’s grave was empty as they prepared to bury Cooper’s wife Thelma, who died in March 2023. Pictured: Sidney and Thelma Cooper who were married on May 19, 1953 in San Diego. Cooper died in 2001 at the age of 71
Cooper was buried in Greenwood in 2001. The family said there was a service at the grave but they did not watch the coffin being lowered. Twenty years later, his tomb turned out to be empty
In 2023, as the cemetery prepared for the funeral of Cooper’s wife Thelma, who died in March 2023, they discovered that Cooper’s body and coffin were missing. An underground probe discovered the presence of a coffin on another property that was supposed to be empty
The lawsuit, filed on Friday, aims to force the cemetery to locate the patriarch’s remains and pay damages to the children.
“I was absolutely devastated,” Cooper-Jones said Friday of the moment she learned her father’s body was missing. “It was like losing my father and mother again.”
Cooper-Jones said they held a service at the grave when her father died two decades ago, but did not see his coffin lowered into the ground.
Cemetery officials said they may have an idea where his coffin is buried, according to family attorneys Eric Dubin and Annee Della Donna.
An underground probe discovered a coffin said to be empty at another property, lawyers said.
The family have said they want the body to be exhumed and tested for DNA.
Sidney Cooper was 71 when he died in 2001 and was reportedly buried in the family plot at Greenwood Memorial Park and Mortuary in San Diego. At least that’s what the family thought
But two decades later, as the family made arrangements to bury their mother Thelma, 92, who died in March, next to her father, they were shocked to find his grave was empty
Cooper-Jones said her mother, Thelma, “only chose the funeral because my father wanted to be buried—otherwise she would have been cremated.”
“My mother only chose to have the funeral because my father wanted to be buried—otherwise she would have been cremated,” Cooper-Jones said. “And now she’s buried there alone.” It’s heartbreaking.’
The couple bought their Greenwood property in about 1992, about two blocks from the family’s Mountain View home, family attorneys said.
Greenwood Cemetery said it was working to fix the problem and said its ownership and management had changed since the mistake.
“While the placement of this family’s loved one was under prior ownership and management over 20 years ago, we have recently discovered a housing issue and are working diligently to confirm the loved one’s placement,” the statement said of the cemetery.
“Our hope is to reunite loved ones as soon as possible as intended.”
Cooper-Jones said it was a difficult time for her and her siblings following the death of their mother. And now, after losing their father, again.
“We do this every year to honor our father,” she said. “Now we don’t even know where he is.”
“For more than 20 years, the widow and her family visited her father, prayed, wept and honored him at lot 319 and the tombstone, believing the defendant buried him there,” the lawsuit reads. “The plaintiff has prayed to an empty lot for over 20 years.”
“I was absolutely devastated,” Cooper-Jones said Friday of the moment she learned her father’s body was missing. “It was like losing my father and mother again.”
The couple bought their Greenwood property in about 1992, about two blocks from the family’s Mountain View home, family attorneys said
For decades prior to his death, Cooper promoted Juneteenth in his unofficial and affectionate role as “Mayor of Imperial Avenue.” The court filing was scheduled to coincide with the Cooper Family Foundation’s Juneteenth Freedom Festival Saturday at Memorial Park in San Diego
The court filing was scheduled to coincide with the Cooper Family Foundation’s Juneteenth Freedom Festival Saturday at Memorial Park in San Diego.
For decades prior to his death, Cooper promoted Juneteenth in his unofficial and affectionate role as “the Mayor of Imperial Avenue,” which had businesses nearby, including a hair salon and a fruit and vegetable store.
The family’s June 19th celebrations grew from small gatherings in the parking lot of Cooper’s store to larger gatherings in a city park.
After Cooper’s death, the family established the Cooper Family Foundation to carry on his legacy and celebrate with the Juneteenth Freedom Festival each year.
The June 19 holiday marks the day in 1865 when news of the Emancipation Proclamation finally reached the last slave owner in Galveston, Texas, more than two years after President Abraham Lincoln signed the edict releasing enslaved blacks. President Biden declared it an official federal holiday in 2021.