MarkMiller
09-24-2009, 11:54 PM
Not just the story itself...but as I am watching the local news tonight 100 miles from my parents home this story made me look....it's the funeral home where we held my mother's service. The paper "The Merced Sun Star" was where my mother's obit. was placed.
'Dead' Man Shows Up At Funeral
Son's Photo Mistakenly Used In Father's Obituary
POSTED: 5:41 pm PDT September 24, 2009
UPDATED: 7:41 pm PDT September 24, 2009
Email Print MERCED, Calif. --
As Jesse Armenta grieves for his father, he's also trying to get over shocking reports of his own death.
Jesse's photo had been mistakenly used for his father Jesus' obituary in the pages in the Merced Sun-Star, in the pamphlet at the funeral, and on the casket.
The funeral home posted the wrong picture.
"The lady in the office said they made a mistake, a big one," Jesse Armenta's wife, Mary Lou, said.
A big crowd of people turned out to say goodbye to the wrong man.
"My father, he lived in Los Banos all his life, so a lot of people would have come to see him," Armenta said.
Jesse's fine, but it was news to his friends who saw his photo in the obituary pages of the newspaper and came out to the Ivers & Alcorn Funeral Home.
"Because people were asking me, 'You're alive.' I said, 'Yes, I'm alive, why?' He said, 'You're in the paper. We came to see you,'" Armenta said.
It turns out that the mistake was made as the funeral home cropped a photo from Jesse's wife.
"I asked him for a retraction, he told me he didn't think he could do it, and I said, 'Why not?' and he said, I don't think Merced will pay for it, the Merced paper," Mary Lou Armenta said.
The next day, the funeral home changed the photo, but not the information for the correct cemetery, so some people went to the wrong one.
Jesse had to borrow some of the money for the funeral, and he now wants that money refunded, plus $25,000 for emotional distress.
"I get upset because my father would have been really upset," Armenta said.
Jesse said his father was going to be 90 years old.
'Dead' Man Shows Up At Funeral
Son's Photo Mistakenly Used In Father's Obituary
POSTED: 5:41 pm PDT September 24, 2009
UPDATED: 7:41 pm PDT September 24, 2009
Email Print MERCED, Calif. --
As Jesse Armenta grieves for his father, he's also trying to get over shocking reports of his own death.
Jesse's photo had been mistakenly used for his father Jesus' obituary in the pages in the Merced Sun-Star, in the pamphlet at the funeral, and on the casket.
The funeral home posted the wrong picture.
"The lady in the office said they made a mistake, a big one," Jesse Armenta's wife, Mary Lou, said.
A big crowd of people turned out to say goodbye to the wrong man.
"My father, he lived in Los Banos all his life, so a lot of people would have come to see him," Armenta said.
Jesse's fine, but it was news to his friends who saw his photo in the obituary pages of the newspaper and came out to the Ivers & Alcorn Funeral Home.
"Because people were asking me, 'You're alive.' I said, 'Yes, I'm alive, why?' He said, 'You're in the paper. We came to see you,'" Armenta said.
It turns out that the mistake was made as the funeral home cropped a photo from Jesse's wife.
"I asked him for a retraction, he told me he didn't think he could do it, and I said, 'Why not?' and he said, I don't think Merced will pay for it, the Merced paper," Mary Lou Armenta said.
The next day, the funeral home changed the photo, but not the information for the correct cemetery, so some people went to the wrong one.
Jesse had to borrow some of the money for the funeral, and he now wants that money refunded, plus $25,000 for emotional distress.
"I get upset because my father would have been really upset," Armenta said.
Jesse said his father was going to be 90 years old.