Family who visited wrong grave for 17 years finally bury parents together
A family who found out their dad was buried in a different grave 17 years ago have finally found their lost relative.
Hilda Bell passed away from COPD last year, and her son Tom and daughters Denise and Debra planned to bury her alongside husband Thomas.
But just two days before the funeral the Bell family were told someone else was buried in their dad’s grave, which they had been visiting for 17 years, The Northern Echo reports.
Their dad’s coffin was nowhere to be seen, and their mum’s funeral was delayed by six weeks while gravediggers dug up 11 plots in the search for Thomas’s resting place.
Multiple other burial errors were uncovered during the search for Thomas’s coffin – but the loving couple were finally laid to rest together in a burial service in August 2022.
The Bell family has now revealed a new gravestone marking the year anniversary since Hilda’s death, finally placed in the correct place.
Tom, 58 and from Easington in County Durham, said: ‘I’m pleased we’ve finally got the gravestone on a year after she died.
‘I came down to see them put it on as I needed to see it was in the right place.
‘Mam used to come and visit what she thought was dad’s grave every Friday for 17 years on her way to the hairdressers – I’m going to be coming down every week too.
‘When they rang us to say dad wasn’t buried where we thought and I had to tell the family we could have the funeral, but mum would have to go back to the funeral home, they thought I was joking.
‘We still don’t have all the answers we wanted.’
A report looking into the mistake blamed a ‘perfect storm’ of errors, saying there was ‘insufficient process’ and ‘poor record keeping’ when Thomas was buried in 2005.
No marker was placed on Thomas’ grave following his burial, nor did anyone from the church attend while his gravestone was put in place to make sure it was in the correct place.
Speaking of his mum Hilda, Tom said: ‘I really miss her.
‘Christmas was hard the first one without her. I just wanted to be on my own.
‘My son has just got a new house with his girlfriend, and I wish she was here to see it.’
A Durham Diocese spokesman said: ‘The Diocese of Durham offers our ongoing prayerful support of the Bell family, especially at this moment of the anniversary of Mrs Bell’s death.
‘Following the publication of the report into Wingate churchyard, the Diocese of Durham held a training event on processes and procedures concerning record keeping and churchyard management.
‘This event was over-subscribed and will therefore be repeated.’
Seven other north east families also experienced mix-ups during the burial of their loved ones, including one person who was buried where a footpath was supposed to go.
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