LAFAYETTE, La. (KLFY) — A Kaplan widow is speaking out after discovering another man was buried on top of her husband in the wrong grave.
The mistake happened at Calvary Cemetery in Lafayette. Fibey Savoy wanted more communication before and after she learned her late husband’s grave was disturbed. Both families say they had to learn the truth themselves.
“Nine weeks later I’m finding out somebody else was buried on top of my husband when I’m supposed to be buried on top of him,” Savoy told News 10.
She said the first sign that William Savoy’s tomb had been disturbed did not come from the cemetery but one of her daughter’s dreams.
Savoy said for about three and a half to four weeks her daughter dreamed the same thing.
“Her father kept showing her a headstone, and he kept talking about he wanted a new headstone,” Savoy recalled. “I asked her I wonder what this means. Then finally all these letters started coming to the house.”
Calvary Cemetery informed her that a man was buried about 100 feet away from where he was supposed to be on top of his own grandfather. Savoy reached out.
“I said, ‘I just learned about this.’ I said, ‘I’d appreciate it if you get this done because it is affecting us,” Savoy said.
Calvary Cemetery told Savoy the corrective action would happen on or after July 15.
“I am going to be there when they do it. You know I want to see it done,” Savoy told News 10.
But Mrs. Savoy did not get to see it done. The Diocese of Lafayette and Menard Burial company informed us the work already happened last week, but Savoy says no one updated her.
“And he (Cemetery Director Patrick Spears) didn’t even send me a picture,” Savoy added. “It’s all been swept underneath the carpet.”
We have been in contact with the Diocese of Lafayette which operates the cemetery. Their statement reads:
“The Diocese of Lafayette was recently made aware that an error made by Menard Burial Vault Company at Calvary Cemetery, owned by St. Genevieve Catholic Church, resulted in the burial of a deceased individual in a plot that was owned by another family. Proper protocol was followed and the deceased individual was reinterred in the proper location, and both families were kept informed throughout the process. Effective immediately, Menard Burial Vault Company will not be granted any additional permits to perform work at Calvary Cemetery, with the exception of performing work that had already been permitted through December 31, 2021.”
Blue Rolfes, Diocese of Lafayette Director of Communications
Mrs. Savoy is suffering from a back injury, so we did travel to the Calvary Cemetery on her behalf to verify that the work was done, and we found both graves corrected.
