Carter Funeral Home director speaks out about allegations, financial problems

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Harry Carter III, left, is joined Saturday at a press conference by his wife Danita Carter, at the podium, and other family, friends and supporters. The event was held outside of the Carter Funeral Home, which he owns, at 2100 E. 75th St. (Rhonda Gillespie/Chicago Citizen)
Harry Carter III, left, is joined Saturday at a press conference by his wife Danita Carter, at the podium, and other family, friends and supporters. The event was held outside of the Carter Funeral Home, which he owns, at 2100 E. 75th St. (Rhonda Gillespie/Chicago Citizen)

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Harry Carter III (Rhonda Gillespie/Chicago Citizen)

Carter Funeral Home owner Harry Carter III called a press conference Saturday to address allegations of mistreatment of human remains at his South Side facility, and to unabashedly explain his financial troubles.

On Feb. 20, police responded to a call near the funeral home and then discovered that a back door to the building at 2100 E. 75th St. was open and they entered. What police found led to health officials and building inspectors being called to the property and what Carter called a 16-hour swarm of his business.

Nine bodies were discovered at the property improperly stored, according to the citation Chicago police issued Carter. The building has been without heat and electricity for months Carter told the Chicago Citizen and all of the bodies were removed from the funeral home by last Tuesday, he said. Further, the building has been cited for numerous code violations that Carter said he is working to correct.

Concerned family members who thought their relative could be one of the nine, visited the funeral home with their attorneys immediately after news broke about the bodies being improperly held there, according to Carter and other published reports.

Carter and his supporters said Saturday they felt the funeral home had been unjustly maligned since the Feb. 20 event. Carter was flanked by friends, family, customers and faith leaders Saturday as he spoke out.

He said the allegations of mistreatment of bodies are a falsehood without merit.

Im not ashamed to have had a problem or two with finances, he said. Ive had my share of financial difficulties, as everyone has had, in this (financial) climate. To vilify me because Ive had a problem or two is not right.

Carter explained that the bodies found at the funeral home had been there an extended period of time waiting the signing of death certificates so that the bodies could be cremated.

He claimed the bodies were in perfect shape and despite being without electricity, he was able to preserve them as his workers tried to track down doctors. The funeral director said his workers would often go on wild-goose chases trying to get the death certificates signed, a legal requirement for cremation.

But yet Im being dragged through the mud when it is not my fault that (the remains) were here; because the doctors dont take this issue seriously, said Carter. The situation they create is horrific.

Carter said disgruntled workers who had recently been terminated from the funeral home set off last Mondays events. Even as the first lawsuit against the funeral home was filed Monday by a family the funeral home serviced, Carter said at the press conference that he would be exploring his own legal options against those former workers.

Supporters of the funeral home and Carter made passionate even tearful appeals for fairness, pointing to how flexible and accommodating he had been with families who struggled to pay for funeral expenses. They also pointed to a man and a business that support the community.

I came to stand with him today to tell him hes been a good man in the community and that this chapel has done good service in the community, Rev. Harvey Richardson of Kingdom of Christ Baptist Church said at the press conference. We want everybody to know that he has been a friend and the families he has helped will not let him down. The churches that he helped will not let him down. The pastors he has been a friend to will not let him down.

Carters attorney, Cecil Lucy, called the funeral director ethical.

We ask your patience as we discover exactly the actions on the others and the impact on the families, Lucy said at the press conference.

The funeral home owes ComEd over $50,000. Carter said at one point he had the money to pay the utility but just didnt do it. He explained that the balance accumulated over a six-year period of time and service was disconnected this past fall. There hasnt been a service at the funeral home since October, Carter said. Instead he uses other sites, including chapels and churches.

Arlana E. Johnson would not give details about the utility companys relationship with Carter Funeral Home but the ComEd spokeswoman said disconnection for any customer is a last choice.

When customers dont pay, those costs are shared by all customers. Service suspension always is a last resort, ComEd spokeswoman Arlana E. Johnson told the Chicago Citizen.

More than reporting on the problems at his funeral home, Carter said he wants doctors to be pushed to sign death certificates in a timely fashion. He said usually it takes eight days after a person dies for the death certificate to be signed. But in some cases, he and workers said Saturday, some physicians take weeks.

Carter said the funeral homes electricity should be restored in the coming days and services should resume at the location by mid-March. A series of fundraisers have been planned to help the funeral home financially. The events will be held weekly at a Dolton nigh club.

by Rhonda Gillespie

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