Families mourn unmarked gravesites for months while waiting for pre-paid headstones

Jerome Slaney and Anita Whelan walk toward their parents' gravesite at the cemetery in St. Lawrence, where they pay their respects to an empty hole in the ground.

Slaney removed his parents' old marble headstones last fall, and used a jackhammer to make way for a new, joint monument that his sister had ordered to honour their mother and father.

But, months later, he's still waiting for Bill Kenny of W.D. Kenny Granite Company to deliver it.

Slaney calls the site "a mess," and says his parents deserve better for their final resting place.

"The only thing we've got really of Mom and Dad is the remembrance here at the grave. And if he had've just came out and put that up," Slaney said.

"It's where we come out all the time — special occasions, birthdays, cemetery mass. This is where we all come to talk over things with Mom and Dad."

They are not alone. Three other families have filed similar complaints at small claims court about Kenny and his Mount Pearl company. According to court documents, the families have each paid between $2,250 and almost $10,000 upfront for headstones, as far back as 2017 — and are still waiting to receive them.

Meanwhile, after multiple phone conversations and an in-person visit to CBC News, Bill Kenny of W.D. Kenny Granite Company cancelled an interview on Monday, but indicated he may respond to the allegations on Tuesday.

In previous phone conversations, he said his family has been in business since 1963, and that he has dozens of happy customers.

He said he's complied with everything that he could possibly comply with.

Kenny also said he has been ill recently, and is just getting back to his business.

'Everything all torn bottom up'

Anita Whelan said her parents' old headstones were starting to crumble, and she wanted to get them something more modern — that would stand the test of time — to honour them.

"I always said, before I die, I was going to get them one," Whelan said.

According to court documents, she and her husband visited W.D. Kenny Granite Company in June, and spoke with Bill Kenny.

They signed a contract, and gave Kenny a cheque for $2,875.

"[Kenny] said, 'I should have it done in a couple of weeks, because I'm not busy,'" Whelan said.

She requested a receipt and a copy of the contract, but said Kenny told her it would be sent electronically.

When the documents didn't arrive in her inbox, Whelan said she started a series of phone calls and visits to Kenny and his business, looking for more information about her parents' monument.

"Every time I went, his car, his truck was broke [down], or his computer was down — he always had excuses," she said.

"[Around] October, he starts saying he got it almost done now, and I said, 'Well, can I see it?' He would never let me go and see it."

In November, Whelan said Kenny told her to contact her brother in St. Lawrence, because he would be out with the headstone the following week.

Slaney said he called Kenny to get the dimensions of the new stone, so he could take out the old monuments and get the site ready for the new one.

But he said Kenny never showed.

Over the next few months, Slaney said, he visited Kenny multiple times at his office on Topsail Road, and Kenny would always say that he'd be out the following day.

I said, 'Bill, you've been promising that to me since November, to my sister since the last of June.... This is not working.'- Jerome Slaney

Their final conversation happened in early January, Slaney said, when he told Kenny he was taking him to small claims.

"He said, 'No, no, no, there's no need of doing that.… I'll drop out tomorrow and put it in for you,'" Slaney said.

"I said, 'Bill, you've been promising that to me since November, to my sister since the last of June.… This is not working.'"

Kenny failed to file a defence at small claims court, so the family was awarded a default judgment in February.

They say they're still waiting for their money.

'No family should have to go through this'

But they aren't the only ones taking W.D. Kenny Granite Company to court.

Roy Cahill and his family spoke with Kenny last April — a year after his father's passing.

Cahill said they ordered five headstones for the family plot in Renews. According to court documents, they paid Kenny $9,200 up front.

Cahill said the foundation was installed in September — but they have yet to receive the monuments.

"It's been torture. It's a nightmare," said Cahill's sister, Marlene Janes.

Since that time, Cahill has kept a record of the multiple visits, phone calls, texts and emails to Kenny.

He said Kenny gave several reasons for the delay, including a sick employee, computer trouble, a power outage, issues with his truck and a death in the family.

"It was always today, or tomorrow, or next week. Always excuses like that," Cahill said.

Cahill asked multiple times for a refund, but said he was denied.

Now, the matter is before small claims court.

In his statement of defence, Kenny wrote, "All proofs were ready but [the] plaintiff and family would not agree to come in. I have via email 2 emails requesting family to come in and move forward. I also have texts asking the same. I cannot move forward without the approval of [the] proofs."

A hearing is set for next month.

I cry every day, every night.- Evelyn Geary

Cahill said the stress of the situation has been wearing heavily on his mother, Evelyn Geary, who's in her eighties — because she has nowhere to mourn her husband.

"I cry every day, every night," she said, fighting back tears.

"I just can't cope with it any longer. And now, I want to see something done."

The family said they're looking for closure.

"We just want a headstone for Dad and to get on with our lives, and just remember our dad for who he was … and not for all of this anguish and torment that we've been hauled through," said Janes.

Cahill added, "No family should have to go through this."

Public trustee in court for deceased man

Another family has been waiting even longer for a headstone from W.D. Kenny Granite Company.

Michael Knight passed away in 2014, and the public trustee — who's administering his estate — paid $2,250 for a headstone for his grave in September 2017.

"After multiple calls, a request for a refund, and a visit to W.D. Kenny Granite Company, this headstone is still not installed, even though there has been several commitments from Bill Kenny … to do so," the trustee alleged in court documents.

In his defence, Kenny wrote, "The monument was ordered at the end of [the] season in 2017, at such time it was told it was weather dependent if installed this (2017) year. It was not, as the weather didn't allow it.

"The stone is completed and needs to be installed. I have been off due to medical reasons and it has not been installed for that reason. I have not spoken to [the] public trustee as they have the wrong number for me listed. I have called them to get [the headstone] installed as I am now back to work and would like to proceed."

The public trustee did not respond to multiple interview requests from CBC News.

The family [would] like to go and visit, but there's nothing to look at, only a stick in the ground.- Gerry Knight

Gerry Knight, Michael Knight's nephew, said he and his sister went to speak with Kenny multiple times to inquire about their uncle's headstone, but it was "one excuse after another."

"It's very disappointing. I'd like to see a headstone there before I pass away," he said.

"The family [would] like to go and visit, but there's nothing to look at, only a stick in the ground. So it's stressful."

Knight said he would like the money refunded so another company can make a headstone for his uncle.

"It was his money from his estate.… He paid for his own headstone and it should be installed," he said.

Still waiting for a refund

A fourth family has been waiting for a year for their headstone from W.D. Kenny Granite Company.

Herbert and Fanny Langmead are an elderly couple who were trying to get their affairs in order.

Last April, according to court documents, they gave the company a cheque for $5,744 for a marble headstone to be placed in a cemetery in Pouch Cove.

"After many calls by the plaintiff and his son [who has power of attorney], the defendant has not supplied the headstone and will not show … the finished product," state the court documents.

In his defence, Kenny wrote, "Due to illness, I was unable to complete the discussed job in a timely manner. As discussed, I would still like to complete the monument as it is a custom-ordered monument and we have already put time into this project."

The family declined interview requests from CBC News.

According to court documents, the Langmeads were awarded a default judgment in January.

But it's not just his customers who are looking for cash — so is the Canada Revenue Agency.

According to documents filed at Federal Court, W.D. Kenny Granite Company owes $113,797 in overdue taxes.

In a phone conversation, Kenny told CBC News that his business is not in financial trouble.

'You can't leave it like that'

Back in St. Lawrence, the old headstones for Arcule and Mary Slaney are still lying on the ground beside their final resting place.

"It's terrible," said Anita Whelan.

Ultimately, she wants her money back, so the family can buy their parents' new headstone from another company.

But Jerome Slaney, who takes a lot of pride in the grave's upkeep, worries that won't happen before June — when visitors start coming into town.

"I [will] have no choice but to try and get these two headstones back in their original place, and I guess we'll have to go from there," he said.

His sister replied, "Especially for cemetery mass. You can't leave it like that."

The siblings said it would mean a lot to see the new headstone in place.

"Mom and Dad deserve this now," Slaney said.

Read more from CBC Newfoundland and Labrador