A family member visits the gravesite of a loved one buried at Burr Oak Cemetary
If a deal is successfully brokered, two Black businessmen will become the new owners of the scandal-plagued Burr Oak Cemetery located in south suburban Alsip. Last week a bankruptcy judge approved a $675,000 bid from Cemecare, a partnership between Black-owned Gatling Community Development Inc. and Restvale Cemetery in Alsip, to purchase Perpetua Inc.’s Burr Oak Cemetery and Cedar Park Cemetery & Funeral Home located in suburban Calumet Park, according to Howard Korenthal. Korenthal was appointed chief operating officer for Burr Oak by a federal judge in September as part of bankruptcy proceedings. Lafayette Gatling Sr., owner of Gatling Community Development, declined to comment, while Willie Carter, owner of Restvale Cemetery, did not return Defender phone calls seeking comment. The offer accepted last week calls for Cemecare to pay $25,000 for the 105-acre Burr Oak Cemetery and $650,000 for the 90-acre Cedar Park Cemetery, Korenthal explained. Korenthal said while Cemecare’s offer has been accepted another buyer could still purchase the cemeteries if their bid exceeds $675,000 at a scheduled April 26 public auction. “The properties will go to the highest bidder, so if an offer comes in at $1 million then Cemecare would have to make a higher offer to acquire the properties,” Korenthal told the Defender. “But whoever ends up buying Burr Oak they would not be responsible for the civil lawsuits that have been filed.” Deidre Baumann, whose law firm, Baumann & Shuldiner, is representing 400 Black plaintiffs in a civil lawsuit against Burr Oak and its current owners, said despite the lawsuit being placed on hold in light of Perpetua filing for bankruptcy protection, she expects it to eventually be given class-action status. “I am looking for others to join the suit as time goes on,” she previously told the Defender. In July four Burr Oak employees were charged with dismembering a human body, which is a Class X felony and punishable by up to 30 years in prison. In addition, the former employees are accused of reselling already occupied burial plots at Burr Oak to unsuspected families and pocketing the money, according to Cook County State’s Attorney office. “What happened at Burr Oak has affected families all across America, so this incident is not restricted to Chicago,” Baumann said. Burr Oak is famous for those buried there, such as civil rights icon Emmett Till and singer Dinah Washington. GCD is best known for its Gatling’s Chapels at 10133 S. Halsted St. in Chicago and 1200 E. 162nd St. in south suburban South Holland. Gatling is also the developer of the 445-acre Sierra Ridge project in south suburban Country Club Hills where a Walmart, senior housing complex and a movie theater are among its tenants. Copyright 2010 Chicago Defender
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