But those who have preneed contracts with the more than 100-year-old business should be able to transfer any prepaid contract to another funeral home, state regulators say.
The Board of Funeral Services ordered the Church Street funeral home to shut down after an inspection last summer turned up numerous violations of state regulations.
In a series of regulatory actions dating to 2018, state board inspectors have investigated at least six consumer complaints against the funeral home and its crematory, which are owned by Thomas R. “Tom” Shepherd, the licensed funeral director, and his wife, Melody Shepherd.
The state board issued a show-cause order on Oct. 29 alleging numerous violations. The funeral home responded five days later that Tom Shepherd had been experiencing health issues and was “not currently competent to address violations” spelled out in the show-cause order. The next day the state board issued the order for summary suspension of the funeral home’s license, its crematory permit at Shepherd Memorial Park, Tom Shepherd’s funeral director license and Melody Shepherd’s crematory manager permit and ordered the business to stop performing funeral services immediately. The state board upheld the suspension on Nov. 18. A hearing on the violations alleged in the show-cause order is expected to be scheduled in the coming weeks.