Man fights to keep wife buried in yard

http://www.clickorlando.com/news/Man...s/-/index.html

An Alabama man is fighting city officials to keep his wife buried in his front yard.

James Davis told The Associated Press he only buried his wife in front of their log home in Stevenson, Ala., because she asked him to when she died in 2009.

The city sued to move the body elsewhere, citing a need to avoid setting a precedent, and a county judge has ordered Davis to disinter his wife.
Quick Clicks

However, that order is on hold as the Alabama Civil Court of Appeals considers his challenge to the ruling.

Davis, 73, told the AP he's shocked by the fight.

"Good Lord, they've raised pigs in their yard, there's horses out the road here in a corral in the city limits, they've got other gravesites here all over the place," he said. "And there shouldn't have been a problem."

City Attorney Parker Edmiston reminded critics that Davis lives in downtown Stevenson, not out in the country.

"We're not in the 1800s any longer," he told the AP. "We're not talking about a homestead, we're not talking about someone who is out in the country on 40 acres of land.

Originally Posted by Dennis Hultman

http://www.clickorlando.com/news/Man...s/-/index.html

update

SCOTTSBORO, Ala. (AP) — An Alabama man has agreed to remove his wife's remains from his front yard after a four-year fight to keep her grave next to the house where they lived together.

James Davis testified at a court hearing Wednesday that he will hire a contractor to remove the body of his late wife, Patsy, and have it cremated. A judge still must approve the plan.

The court ordered the 74-year-old Davis to remove the body after the city of Stevenson won a lawsuit arguing the grave amounted to an illegal cemetery and had to be removed.

Poor guy! Hopefully they let him do it with dignity.

I hope Patsy comes back and haunts the judge and all those involved!!!!

I feel sorry for the exhumation contractor. If I recall this story correctly, he set the vault and everything himself...which means someone will probably end up scooping out body gook since I doubt they got it sealed.

I'm pretty sure nothing would have been said if they hadn't stuck a headstone in their front yard. Nothing was said until the day after the headstone was set. The city counsel should be voted out for how they handled the whole situation, but since the town is so small, that isn't likely.