Background: Fisher Funeral Home in Redford, Mich. (WXYZ). Inset: Rhonda Hollis (The Hollis Family).
A Michigan family is planning to take legal action against a funeral home that was entrusted with cremating their mother’s remains, only to discover that the cremation had been done prematurely, before a scheduled viewing.
Following the unexpected death of 42-year-old Rhonda Hollis on Nov. 23, her family arranged for a viewing to be held on Dec. 17 at Fisher Funeral Home, with the cremation planned to follow. Shockingly, on Dec. 12, just days before the scheduled viewing, the Hollis family received a call from the funeral home’s owner informing them that Rhonda had already been cremated in error.
During an interview with a Detroit ABC affiliate, WXYZ, members of the Hollis family shared their heartbreak over the situation. Kathy Hollis, Rhonda’s mother, received the call from Mike Fisher and expressed her disbelief, stating, “We got the call on December 12th that Mr. Mike Fisher said that her body was cremated that day. And I questioned him — how could her body be cremated when we didn’t have the service yet? And he stated that one of his staff accidentally had her cremated.”
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WXYZ asked the funeral home about the date of Hollis’ cremation, which was actually Dec. 4. The family allegedly wasn’t notified until Dec. 12, more than a week later.
Hollis’ daughter, Saijae Hollis told WXYZ, “I’m supposed to be at a viewing looking at my mom and I can’t.” She said, “We were hoping that we would be able to give her her last homegoing, and actually make sure she looked pretty and just send her off, and the family could say their final goodbyes and we could cope from there. But it didn’t happen like that.”
Fisher Funeral Home provided a written statement to WXYZ, calling the mistake “a very unfortunate situation.” They said, “Because of a mistake, a person who was supposed to be cremated after a memorial service was cremated before the opportunity for loved ones to gather for a service. We immediately apologized to the family and understand why they are upset. This is not reflective of the care that we provide to our community and we deeply regret that this has occurred. We have served Southeast Michigan for nearly 70 years. Nothing like this has ever happened before nor will it again.”
The Hollis family retained attorney Ivan Land, who said that the family intends to sue Fisher Funeral Home for breach of contract, negligence, fraudulent misrepresentation, and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
Land told WXYZ, “You cannot make a mistake when you are dealing with someone’s loved one that has passed away. Zero tolerance. You cannot make a mistake.”
