Flint, Detroit Funeral Homes Share Name, But Not Maggots: Dad

DETROIT, MI — O’Neil D. Swanson, owner of the Detroit-based Swanson’s Funeral Home, said Thursday the chain has no legal or business connection to a same-named Flint funeral home owned and operated by his son, whose mortuary license was yanked by state over multiple violations, including the storage of unrefrigerated bodies in a hot garage and the presence of maggots.

“The allegations the state has made against the Flint home are shocking and go against every principle of mortuary science,” Bob Berg, a spokesman for the elder Swanson, said in a statement. “We have served the community for 59 years and have established an unchallenged record of providing experienced, compassionate service. I want to make it clear to all that the steps taken by the state against the Flint business do not impact us in any way.”

The senior Swanson’s funeral home group includes two in Detroit and another in Pontiac. None of his funeral homes are connected in any way to Flint operation, he said.

The Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs said it has suspended mortuary sciences licenses for both Swanson Funeral Home Inc. and its manager, O’Neil D. Swanson II. (For more local news, click here to sign up for real-time news alerts and newsletters from Detroit Patch, click here to find your local Michigan Patch. Also, like us on Facebook, and if you have an iPhone, click here to get the free Patch iPhone app.)

During multiple visits to the Flint funeral home, state inspectors found “deplorable, unsanitary conditions and violations” of Michigan’s health and occupational code and the Prepaid Funeral and Cemetery Sales Act, according to a news release.

Specifically, they found:

• Maggots on the floor of the facility’s garage and garage door;
• Unrefrigerated human bodies stored in the un-air-conditioned garage, some for more than 90 days and up to five months;
• A stench of decomposing bodies;
• An unsanitary preparation room without equipment or supplies necessary for embalming;
• Blood- and fluid-stained casket pillows laying in the hallway.

Additionally, the state said:

• The funeral home was never properly registered as a “producing facility,” nor did it submit a required medical waste management lan under Michigan’s Medical Waste Regulatory Act;
• Repeated violations of standards and laws enforced by the Michigan Occupational Safety and Health Administration affecting the handling, custody, care, or transportation of a dead human body; and
• Failed to register to sell prepaid contracts or maintain a contract with a registrant under the Prepaid Act.

“Michigan residents trust funeral home directors, owners, and their establishments to follow the law especially when dealing with the death of a loved one,” Julia Dale, who heads LARA’s Corporations, Securities & Commercial Licensing Bureau, said in the news release. “We will continue to aggressively hold every funeral home in Michigan to the highest standards of public health and safety when providing final arrangements.”

Swanson could be fined up to $10,000 for each of the violations of the occupational code, and the Michigan Board of Mortuary Science Examiners could permanently revoke his license, according to the release. Additionally, if he’s found to be in violation of the state’s prepaid funeral law, he could go to jail for up to five years and pay a $5,000 fine.

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