The loved ones of Sidney Cooper Sr., warmly known as the “Mayor of Imperial Avenue,” recently discovered they had prayed over an empty grave for more than two decades.
That’s what an attorney representing the family told jurors, as he blamed the funeral home tasked with his burial, saying it had negligently misplaced his remains.
Opening statements were delivered Thursday afternoon in the civil case brought by Cooper’s children, who are suing the company that once operated Greenwood Memorial Park and Mortuary in Mountain View
Attorney Eric Dubin, who represents the Coopers, said the mishap was only discovered after Sidney’s wife, Thelma Cooper, died in March 2023. Sidney died in 2001.
The couple had planned on being buried together but once preparations for the joint burial were underway, it was discovered that Sidney’s body and casket was never buried in the plot the couple purchased in 1992.
Sidney Cooper’s casket was found later in 2023, in another location within the same cemetery. By that time, Dubin said the family already had been forced to bury Thelma Cooper alone, against her wishes.