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A Carnation family is suing a local funeral home after they say an urn that was supposed to contain a loved one's ashes was actually stuffed with a bag of wet cotton.
The family of Allen Decker said after running a dairy farm near Duvall for more than 40 years, his dying wish was to have some of his ashes sprinkled on the land he loved. His son Joe Decker said "This was his dream, to have this farm and to carry out his wishes he wanted some of his ashes left at the farm."
He died in September 2007 and a service was held at a Redmond Cemetery. The family hired Purdy & Kerr with Dawson Memorial home in Monroe to bury part of the remains with Decker's late wife and give the family a box with the remainder.
The day of the service, family members say they didn't get the box with the rest of his ashes. "I had a bad feeling from the cemetery and then after this it just opened up a new wound" said his brother Ernie Decker.
The family tells Q13 Fox News, they picked up an urn a few days later at Purdy & Kerr with Dawson funeral home in Monroe and were told that it had been sealed.
Family members organized a memorial on the family farm and prepared to scatter the ashes. They opened the sealed urn and say they found a plastic bag filled with what appeared to be wet cotton.
The family has filed a lawsuit against the funeral home and other companies that handled Decker's remains.
They've considered exhuming the urn that was buried in Redmond but the process is very difficult and it would be tough to determine if the ashes belonged to their late father.
A spokesperson for Service Corporation International, the company that owns Purdy & Kerr with Dawson funeral home and two other businesses named in the lawsuit released this statement to Q13 Fox News:
"Our deepest sympathies go out to the Decker family. At this time, we are unable to comment because of ongoing litigation."
Washington State Funeral Home records do not show a history of problems with the businesses.
The case will be in court in a few months, the family still hopes to find a way to honor Decker's dying wish. His sister, Dorothy Sauls, tells Q13 Fox News "We got to have closure, and our closure has to be with the ashes because that was his last wish." They hope that by sharing their story they can spare another family from the same pain.
The family of Allen Decker said after running a dairy farm near Duvall for more than 40 years, his dying wish was to have some of his ashes sprinkled on the land he loved. His son Joe Decker said "This was his dream, to have this farm and to carry out his wishes he wanted some of his ashes left at the farm."
He died in September 2007 and a service was held at a Redmond Cemetery. The family hired Purdy & Kerr with Dawson Memorial home in Monroe to bury part of the remains with Decker's late wife and give the family a box with the remainder.
The day of the service, family members say they didn't get the box with the rest of his ashes. "I had a bad feeling from the cemetery and then after this it just opened up a new wound" said his brother Ernie Decker.
The family tells Q13 Fox News, they picked up an urn a few days later at Purdy & Kerr with Dawson funeral home in Monroe and were told that it had been sealed.
Family members organized a memorial on the family farm and prepared to scatter the ashes. They opened the sealed urn and say they found a plastic bag filled with what appeared to be wet cotton.
The family has filed a lawsuit against the funeral home and other companies that handled Decker's remains.
They've considered exhuming the urn that was buried in Redmond but the process is very difficult and it would be tough to determine if the ashes belonged to their late father.
A spokesperson for Service Corporation International, the company that owns Purdy & Kerr with Dawson funeral home and two other businesses named in the lawsuit released this statement to Q13 Fox News:
"Our deepest sympathies go out to the Decker family. At this time, we are unable to comment because of ongoing litigation."
Washington State Funeral Home records do not show a history of problems with the businesses.
The case will be in court in a few months, the family still hopes to find a way to honor Decker's dying wish. His sister, Dorothy Sauls, tells Q13 Fox News "We got to have closure, and our closure has to be with the ashes because that was his last wish." They hope that by sharing their story they can spare another family from the same pain.
