A Hillside daughter went to visit her mother’s grave and found the headstone gone, leaving an empty hole between two markers that were still standing. The cemetery later put the stone back, but the family is still asking why nobody bothered to call first.
According to CBS News Chicago, Shavonne Worthy said she found her mother Geraldine Worthy’s headstone missing from its plot at Oakridge-Glen Oaks Cemetery. Worthy said the discovery sent her mind immediately to the worst-case scenario, because she had no warning that the marker had been removed.
The cemetery’s website says Oakridge-Glen Oaks has served the Hillside community since 1899 and lists Haciel Cervantes as its president and CEO. Cervantes is also the cemetery’s new owner, and the dispute has put a very unglamorous question in the spotlight: who gets to decide when a family memorial can disappear?
The cemetery says it was investigating questionable headstones
Cervantes told CBS News Chicago that the cemetery had no record of receiving payment for Geraldine Worthy’s headstone, which had been in place for nearly 10 years. He said the cemetery believed some markers may have been installed without authorization, either by outside parties or through a staff member who allegedly arranged headstone sales in exchange for kickbacks.
Cervantes said the cemetery could not determine where a headstone came from simply by looking at it, so staff removed the marker to investigate who made and installed it. The cemetery’s updated rules state that an unauthorized memorial installation can result in immediate removal, while Worthy said her original paperwork showed the stone had been paid for and included the same phone number she still uses.
Geraldine Worthy’s headstone was eventually returned undamaged to its original location. Cervantes said the cemetery had identified roughly 15 questionable headstones overall, though he told the station that only two families, including Worthy’s, had their markers removed under similar circumstances.
Oakridge-Glen Oaks has faced marker complaints before
This is not the first public dispute involving a headstone at Oakridge-Glen Oaks. In a 2021 report by CBS Chicago, the family of an 11-year-old girl said they found her marker overturned and damaged, while cemetery staff allegedly told them the cemetery was not responsible because the stone had not been purchased through Oakridge.
The incidents are not identical, and the earlier report involved damage rather than an administrative investigation. But together they show how quickly a cemetery’s rules, vendor records and maintenance practices can collide with the deeply personal way families use memorials to keep loved ones present.
What Illinois law says about cemetery markers
Illinois law allows cemetery authorities to create and enforce rules governing cemetery operations, and the Cemetery Protection Act generally excludes a cemetery’s removal of items placed in violation of those rules from certain criminal provisions. The Illinois General Assembly also requires cemetery rules to be made publicly available and referenced in consumer contracts.
A separate section of the law addresses the correction of certain encroachments and calls for notice to affected families, including notice by certified mail or another delivery method with confirmation. It is not clear from the public reporting whether that provision applies to Worthy’s headstone, because the cemetery described the issue as an allegedly unauthorized installation rather than a marker encroaching on another burial right.
For Worthy, the legal fine print does not erase the basic grievance. She told CBS News Chicago that the cemetery had her contact information and that she remains troubled by the decision to remove the marker without first trying to reach her.
