Wayland families fight to keep buried loved ones where they are despite land sale
WAYLAND - Some family burial sites in Wayland are in jeopardy because of a real estate sale.
Christopher Woodcock loves to visit his mother, Marian's gravesite. "My mother had a job selling cosmetics. She worked her butt off making sure my life did not change because my father died and she did a remarkable job of that," Woodcock said.
Marian is buried at the Churchyard Memorial Garden that used to belong to The Church of the Holy Spirit in Wayland under the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts.
"My mother was Pricilla Wilson and my husband was Roderick Carlson Hodgson," Heidi Wilson said. Wilson said both her mother and first husband are buried here too.
But that all may change after an ongoing legal battle that has some family members outraged about the potential of their loved one's final resting place may have to be disinterred and moved elsewhere against the wishes of the families.
"When all of us bought the plots it was bought under the regulations which said the church would maintain this property in perpetuity. They have not done that," Woodcock said.
The church closed in 2015 due to declining membership and the property including the Churchyard Memorial Garden was sold to the Coptic Orthodox Church. Now, all the 50 people who were cremated and buried here may have to be removed because the Coptic Church does not believe in cremation and have different plans for the space.
The Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts released a statement saying they recognize the pain and disruptions this is causing but they "have been able to work with a majority of the affected families to make arrangements for the careful removal and re-interment of the cremated remains of their loved ones to a location of each family's choosing."
Some of the remains have already been removed with approval by their loved ones, but there are still a handful of families that are holding their ground.
They hope that a judge would side in their favor so their loved ones can rest eternally here at peace.
"Final has meaning, that means it, no changes, this is the final spot. And for them to treat it as if it was transient, it's wrong. They should be allowed to stay and rest there in perpetuity," Woodcock said.
After seven years of litigation and back and forth with the courts, the decision now rests in the hands of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court.
"I hope the court will find that the churches are bound by the decision they made with us and my husband and mother and all the other families' loved ones can't be disturbed," Wilson said.
A decision is expected to be made in the coming months.