A Maplewood funeral home is shut down, accused of improperly leaving bodies in different states of decomposition.
That's what the Minnesota State Health Department says forced it to close the doors to the Maple Oaks Funeral Home. It was first cited last month for missing records, and with the latest issue, it's been out of business for the last several weeks after the state filed a cease and desist order.
In May, the state conducted a random inspection at the Maple Oaks Funeral Home off Stillwater Road. During the search, the state found unsanitary conditions and decomposing bodies in the embalming room, according to the department. As a result, the owners can't transport or prepare bodies and conduct funerals.
But the lawyer for Maple Oaks, who saw the bodies himself, says this is a misunderstandi
ng.
"What was seen was the natural process of dehydration in the extremities, the fingers and the toes," Michael Sharkey said.
Sharkey, who is a former funeral director and practices mortuary law, says the deceased were all members of the Hmong community.
The Hmong mourning period can be much longer than traditional standards and can even last weeks. Additionally, it's common for Hmong families to only allow one deceased body at the funeral home at a time.
Sharkey says what happened here is that Maple Oaks was assisting other Hmong funeral directors by holding bodies at their facility. Sharkey says these two owners were simply trying to help out, and the health department is way off on its findings.
"A situation like this has absolutely destroyed all that goodwill that these two gentlemen have put into their community over more than 40 years as ethical, professional funeral directors," Sharkey said.
The health department declined our request for an interview, but both sides are in hearings. Sharkey says they have a meeting with the state health department "very soon" to possibly allow extra oversight of the funeral home.
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