Family sues over alleged casket-jamming burial

PITTSBURGH - The family of a deceased 91-year-old woman claims in a lawsuit that workers at a Roman Catholic cemetery near Pittsburgh jumped up and down on top of the woman's casket and otherwise jammed it into a snug grave by poking it with poles.

Theodore Zimmick, his daughter and granddaughter sued the Pittsburgh diocese and its Catholic Cemeteries Association over the burial of his mother, Agnes Zimmick, on Dec. 1, 2009 at St. Stanislaus Catholic Cemetery in Shaler Township.

After the funeral service, the family says they went to visit the graves of other family members, and then saw workers stomping and walking on the casket and otherwise jamming it into the grave.

Annabelle McGannon, executive director of the cemeteries association, says the family's claims have been investigated and are "unfounded."