‘I’m supposed to be at a viewing’: Funeral home cremates mom before loved ones could say goodbye, then waits a week to tell them, family says

A Michigan family intends to sue a funeral home that was supposed to cremate their mother’s remains after holding a viewing but mistakenly cremated her before that viewing was held.

Rhonda Hollis, 42, died unexpectedly on Nov. 23 and her devastated family scheduled a viewing for Dec. 17 at Fisher Funeral Home. Her cremation was intended to take place afterward. But on Dec. 12, days before the Hollis family was to say their final goodbyes and see their loved one for the last time, they received a call from the owner of the funeral home — Hollis’ remains had already been cremated by mistake.

In an interview with Detroit ABC affiliate WXYZ, members of the Hollis family recounted the news that only compounded their grief. Kathy Hollis, Rhonda’s mother, was the one who received the call from Mike Fisher. She said, “We got the call on December the 12th that Mr. Mike Fisher had said that her body was cremated that day. And I questioned him — how could her body be cremated when we didn’t have the service yet? And he stated that one of his staff accidentally had her cremated.”

Story continues

TRENDING NOW

LATEST LOCAL NEWS