Dozens of frustrated Delray Beach residents confronted a city-hired consultant at a heated community meeting Thursday night, demanding solutions for systemic failures at the Delray Beach Memorial Gardens Municipal Cemetery, including cases where burial plots were allegedly resold.
The emotional meeting was a culmination of months of resident complaints and WPTV investigations into poor conditions, maintenance issues and significant record-keeping errors.
The anger and frustration voiced by families underscore the deep personal impact of the cemetery's problems, which have left some unable to locate their loved ones' graves and others, like one woman who spoke to WPTV, discovering the plot she bought 18 years ago was sold to someone else.
The city has now tasked an outside firm with creating a plan for immediate and long-term fixes.
'Fix what's broken right now'
One by one, residents shared painful and personal stories with Stephen Kuehne of Kuehne Cemetery Consulting.
“I got six family members that had to be cremated because they couldn’t be buried out there,” resident Andre Andrews said passionately. “We’re tired!”
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Nicole Ivy described the anguish of many families.
“We have other people who can’t find their loved ones out there,” she said. “Those are our ancestors, and we want to preserve and protect them.”
The community's demands were clear: a comprehensive audit of all records, competent on-site staff, a citizen oversight board, and for the city to purchase more land for expansion.
“Get something done, besides just saying ‘I’m gonna look into it,’” resident Stanley George said. “You need to get these people some solutions.”
A resold final resting place
The record-keeping failures are not abstract problems. For Sandra Owens, the issue is painfully specific. She first shared her story with WPTV's Zitlali Solache at a "Let's Hear It" community meet-up in July.
In 2006, a year after her parents were buried, Owens purchased the plot next to them. But during a visit in 2024, she found a stranger buried in her spot.
"I went to visit my parents' burial site, and lo and behold, there's some guy buried with the whole plot and everything," Owens said.
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The city of Delray Beach later attributed the mistake to a cemetery management software error that listed her sold plot as available. The city attorney’s office offered Owens a refund, an adjacent plot, or the option to relocate her mother’s remains at the city's expense.
At Thursday's meeting, her message was simple: “All I want from the city of Delray is the plot that I paid for.”
A path forward
Consultant Stephen Kuehne acknowledged the residents' pain and pledged a thorough review.
“It pains me, but cemeteries have these problems,” Kuehne said, promising that improving customer communication would be the top priority. “The cemetery and your loved ones, and the people that helped found this community, they should be respected and should be cared for and that’s what I’m here to try to make sure that’s going to happen.”
Kuehne will conduct a full assessment of the cemetery’s records, maintenance, finances, staffing and capacity. The city manager confirmed the review will take several months, with the consultant scheduled to present an update to the community in December.
Despite the promises, some residents, including Owens, remain wary.
“I’m not sure," she said after the meeting. "I want action — I want resolution. That’s all I want.”
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