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SACRAMENTO -
Sierra View Funeral Chapel prides itself on 55 years of doing business. It's printed all over their literature and website. But in more than half a decade they've been dealing with the dead - the cold hard fact is, their customers have changed.
A rectangle of yellowed sod and a tiny, hard-to-see marker- this is the resting place of Barbara Lee. Whether it's final, and whether she's resting in peace, remains to be seen.
"She ate like a normal person," said Robert Lee of his wife. "But she was obese."
Because of a problem with her thyroid gland, Barbara Lee died morbidly obese- at 456 pounds. And because his budget was tight, Robert Lee says the funeral chapel sold him a coffin that was way too tight for his wife.
"He said it'd be snug. Snug," Robert Lee said.
In fact, Robert says it was impossibly too small for her to be inside, intact.
It's a growing problem in America, where 17% of those over 70 are obese. Your standard coffin size is 28 inches. That's a comfortable fit for a man who's in good shape. But for someone who's overweight, or way overweight, it just wouldn't do.
It's given rise to a cottage industry. Goliath Caskets of Lynn Indiana specializes in spacious coffins. But a Goliath is not what Robert Lee got.
"My daughter fell to her knees and said my mother's not in there. It's too small. Open it up," Robert Lee said, remembering Barbara's funeral. "And that's when the fella' from the mortuary said, it's against the law."
After several calls and several visits to the Sierra View funeral home in Carmichael, we haven't gotten any response to Robert Lee's complaint.
But Robert showed us a document he says they asked him to sign after his wife was already buried. It is an agreement that the coffin wasn't a good fit. Now Robert is faced with two horrible alternatives: always wondering, or disrupting his wife's rest and knowing for certain.
It's worth noting that Sierra View has an A+ rating from the Better Business Bureau. Their State Cemetery and Funeral license is in good standing.
Robert Lee says they quoted him 6000 dollars to bring his wife back up, and rebury her in a larger casket.
A rectangle of yellowed sod and a tiny, hard-to-see marker- this is the resting place of Barbara Lee. Whether it's final, and whether she's resting in peace, remains to be seen.
"She ate like a normal person," said Robert Lee of his wife. "But she was obese."
Because of a problem with her thyroid gland, Barbara Lee died morbidly obese- at 456 pounds. And because his budget was tight, Robert Lee says the funeral chapel sold him a coffin that was way too tight for his wife.
"He said it'd be snug. Snug," Robert Lee said.
In fact, Robert says it was impossibly too small for her to be inside, intact.
It's a growing problem in America, where 17% of those over 70 are obese. Your standard coffin size is 28 inches. That's a comfortable fit for a man who's in good shape. But for someone who's overweight, or way overweight, it just wouldn't do.
It's given rise to a cottage industry. Goliath Caskets of Lynn Indiana specializes in spacious coffins. But a Goliath is not what Robert Lee got.
"My daughter fell to her knees and said my mother's not in there. It's too small. Open it up," Robert Lee said, remembering Barbara's funeral. "And that's when the fella' from the mortuary said, it's against the law."
After several calls and several visits to the Sierra View funeral home in Carmichael, we haven't gotten any response to Robert Lee's complaint.
But Robert showed us a document he says they asked him to sign after his wife was already buried. It is an agreement that the coffin wasn't a good fit. Now Robert is faced with two horrible alternatives: always wondering, or disrupting his wife's rest and knowing for certain.
It's worth noting that Sierra View has an A+ rating from the Better Business Bureau. Their State Cemetery and Funeral license is in good standing.
Robert Lee says they quoted him 6000 dollars to bring his wife back up, and rebury her in a larger casket.
