A West Virginia funeral home is being suspended following allegations of abuse of a corpse, homeless people living on site and the arrest of the operator in an “altered mental state.”
Hunter Anderson Funeral Home of Berkeley Springs was suspended this week by the state’s licensing board.
The action followed separate but related police investigations. John A. Anderson, the sole license holder for the family-owned funeral home, has had his license suspended because of “immediate danger to the public.”
A man who answered the telephone at the Morgan County funeral home today said “It’s all unfounded. We’re still doing business as always.”
The man, who identified himself as Bob Mangold, acknowledged the trust that grieving families place in funeral homes over many years. He contended the funeral home has done nothing wrong.
“The only thing I can tell you is the complaint registered against Hunter Anderson was a disgruntled complaint,” he said. “It was with a disgruntled person who didn’t think the state moved fast enough with a death certificate.”
The accusations against the funeral home are broader and more shocking than that, though.
The funeral home and its operator face three allegations that were investigated by the State Police and local sheriff’s deputies, starting in July.
The first was an unrefrigerated corpse improperly preserved for about 12 days, according to a complaint initiated by the West Virginia Board of Funeral Service Examiners.
“It’s not true. The place where they have the body is the coolest place in the funeral home,” said the man at the funeral home today.
The next was an allegation that the operator allowed homeless people to live in the funeral home, along with the possibility of drug use.
Each of those is under investigation by the State Police. A representative this week said the investigation’s conclusion is subject to completion of lab results.
John Anderson also faces three criminal charges that have been filed already in magistrate court in Berkeley County. They include obstructing justice, driving on a revoked license and trespassing.
All three came from an arrest that occurred August 9 when a deputy with the Berkeley County Sheriff’s Department was called to Air National Guard property. The officer approached a truck and discovered a man in the driver’s seat with no pants, according to a criminal complaint.
The deputy wrote that the man, later identified as John Anderson, tried to drive away or walk away several times. The deputy then ran a preliminary breath test that returned a result of 0.
“During the observation period the accused continued to make statements that indicated he had an altered mental status of some kind,” the deputy wrote.
Security personnel at the Air Guard facility later told the investigating officer that the man already had been ordered off the property several times, but that he refused to leave.
John Anderson has been director at the funeral home since 1980, according to the business’s website. His parents, Charles and Marge Lee Anderson, founded the Anderson Funeral Home in Cameron, Marshall County, in 1960.
The funeral home in Berkeley Springs dates to 1883. One of the founders was Charles E. Hunter, and the funeral home stayed in that family into the 1970s.
In 1972, father and son Charles and John Anderson purchased the funeral home, adding that family name to Hunter’s. In 1998, John purchased his father’s share.
The West Virginia Board of Funeral Examiners, made up of representatives of the state’s funeral home businesses, met in an emergency session earlier this week. About an hour of the meeting occurred in closed, executive session. Members emerged and dealt with motions to suspend the funeral home licensing “all for the need to protect the public.”
A written order on behalf of the board called for John Anderson to surrender his licenses immediately. An administrative hearing over the allegations will be set for a later date.
The calendar on the funeral home’s internet page shows no activity for July or August. The most recent obituaries listed on the page are from April, May and June.
But the site invites people to plan a service: “We’re here to help.”
“Ceremonies as unique as the life you’re remembering.”