Menorah Gardens cemetery settlement disappoints Jupiter resident

JUPITER, Fla. - Phyllis Weiss still comes to the cemetery that used to be called Menorah Gardens - but has since been renamed Star of David - a few times a week to see her husband's grave.

He died in 1997.

Even to this day, she's still not convinced his gravestone correctly marks where he's buried.

She says no amount of money can help the empty feeling she gets.

"There are times I need him. He was always there for me to talk to," said Weiss.

Hundreds sued the cemetery in one of the biggest desecration scandals in U.S. history.

Complaints of bodies and graves moved without permission helped form the basis of the class action suit.

Last week, after years of fighting, Weiss got a check for $22,000.

It is her share of a $40 million legal settlement agreed upon in 2009 between 350 families and two cemeteries.

Weiss says the payment does not reflect her grief.

"It broke up my entire family," said Weiss. "It destroyed our family. I still don't know to this day if my husband is there or not."

She says the money is already on the way to her grandchildren.

"They never knew their grandfather. But at least they'll have something in their pocket," said Weiss.

On Tuesday night, the lawyer who led the class action suit said he was confident that the judges awarded the money fairly.

The cemetery declined a request for comment.