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When Virgie Thompson died in 2002, her husband made sure he would be buried right next to her.
Robert Thompson bought side-by-side plots at Oak Ridge-Glen Oak Cemetery and made plans for a double headstone, anticipating they'd be close again someday.
But in a lawsuit filed last week in Cook County Circuit Court, the Matteson man says someone else is now buried next to his wife.
"The guy out there looked, and he told me, 'We goofed,' " Thompson recalled. "He said he can't move the body that's there, but he could move my wife. He said he wanted to work with me, give me a discount on the headstone, but I told him I'm not bargaining and I'm not out for any favors. I just want to be buried in the right place."
Thompson also says this wasn't the first problem he had with officials at the Hillside cemetery.
As his wife's funeral procession came into the cemetery Nov. 18, 2002, he said, he realized they were headed the wrong way.
"They dug a hole for her around the corner from the grave I bought," Thompson said. "I told them to put her back in the hearse, and we went into the mausoleum until they could get her to where she was supposed to be."
That mistake, coupled with the error of burying someone else next to his wife, led to his lawsuit against the cemetery and its employee, Leroy Palmer, he said.
Cemetery president Robert Harvey said that while a mistake might have been made, there is also room for compromise. He acknowledged the offer of a discount on a headstone and also said he offered Thompson the plot on the left side of his wife, to no avail.
http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-cemetery18.html
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