TULALIP A local woman was tangled in a bureaucratic fix recently when her husband died and she was faced with huge cremation surcharges because the corpse exceeded weight standards.
David Victor Long was a U.S. Air Force veteran who died on Nov. 20 in the Seattle Veterans Hospital. The bladder cancer that took his life also made his body bloat to nearly 400 pounds and his wife Linda was facing huge costs to inter his corpse.
The couple had just moved into a newly purchased house and between the down payment, moving costs and medical expenses they were tapped out financially before Davids demise. To add insult to injury Linda was told by funeral homes that because her husbands corpse was so large she would have to pay extra to have him cremated. The bill was almost $2,000 at a time she was swimming in a sea of troubles.
A business client owed her more than $15,000 but wasnt able to pay up, and the crematory wanted their funds up front. In the meantime her husbands body is being held in cold storage and facing a paupers grave.
So consequently Im sitting here high and dry, Linda Long said. Anything extra over 300 pounds they charge you extra. This is stuff I didnt know, that Im just finding out. Its scary.
That was earlier this week before a couple of angels stepped in to help her out. Two veterans groups from the eastside of Lake Washington came up with some emergency cash and persuaded a Renton funeral home to perform their services for a reduced rate. A Snohomish County veterans program kicked in another $300 and is also helping with paperwork snafus. Long was especially grateful to Jim Broe, commander of the American Legion Post 161 in Redmond. His post and the Bellevue Veterans of Foreign Wars post are teaming up to get Longs body out of cold storage and buried properly. Broe was a U.S. Army intelligence soldier in Vietnam, and this isnt the first time hes found a vets family in limbo.
We have told her not to worry, we will cover the bill whatever it is, Broe pledged. Ive been a little bit flabbergasted by what Ive encountered at funeral homes. Theres so many intricacies involved.
When a Kent funeral home couldnt or wouldnt help, Broe contacted the Mount Olivet funeral home in Renton, where they were quoted a vastly reduced rate.
They have been extremely helpful with veterans in the past, especially those in financial need, Brow explained. Were still waiting to find out what the sum total will be. Its still not resolved frankly.