Wrong Body Placed In Casket At NJ Funeral Home, Lawsuit Alleges

FRANKLIN, NJ — A North Jersey woman is suing a local funeral home, alleging in a lawsuit that a stranger was placed in a casket intended for her mother.

Josephine Struble died in December at a nursing home in Dover, with an open casket viewing scheduled for Jan. 4 at F. John Ramsey Funeral Home in Franklin. But according to a lawsuit filed in Superior Court of New Jersey, Sussex County on Sept. 13, Struble’s children Gloria Shauger and Oliver Struble were shown the corpse of an unknown woman at a viewing service instead of Josephine.

“Shauger immediately became distraught and sought out [the funeral director] to find out where her mother’s body was,” the complaint reads. “To twist the knife, Shauger noticed her mother’s jewelry on the unidentified corpse.”

After about a half hour and apologies from funeral home employees, the family reentered the room to find Josephine’s body “disheveled and bruised,” the lawsuit adds.

“The Plaintiffs have been denied their right to grieve the death of their late loved one and, further, have been forced to endure severe and ongoing emotional distress," the lawsuit reads.

Patch contacted the funeral home, which did not return comment.

The complaint names funeral home owner Paul D. Ferguson and funeral director Joseph M. Clark, alleging that the pair participated in "the mishandling of the decedent's corpse."

The funeral home now faces allegations of negligence in mishandling human remains, infliction of emotional distress, tort, and breach of contract.

Shauger and Struble are demanding a trial by jury.