Clifton Moore, an 89-year-old North Philadelphia man who ran Mr. C's BBQ for decades, died on August 1, 2026. His family says that by the time they went to pick out a photo for his acknowledgment cards, Savin Funeral Home had already cremated him — before the viewing they had scheduled and paid for.
Chrystal Moore told the outlet she learned of the cremation while delivering a photograph to Savin Funeral Home for the memorial cards, according to 6abc Philadelphia. The viewing had been scheduled for August 22, but staff at the North 12th Street funeral home told her Clifton Moore had already been cremated, the station reports. “He had already cremated him,” Chrystal Moore said, according to the same report.
The family says it contracted with Savin Funeral Home to embalm Clifton Moore, hold a viewing, and only then proceed with cremation. The station reports that the family paid a little more than $3,800 for those services. Shawn Moore, another family member, said the family wants answers and accountability, adding that he believes the funeral home was trying to cover its tracks.
A Billing Dispute Over What Was Promised
The station reviewed the family's contract and found it appears to indicate payment for programs the family says it never received. Elsewhere on the paperwork, the same contract lists $2,150 for direct cremation with a chapel memorial service — a very different offering than the embalming-and-viewing package the family insists it paid for. Savin's own pricing list, per the station's reporting, included a separate charge of $1,850 plus $350 for cremation.
Troy Dupree, the funeral director at Savin Funeral Home, told the station the family had actually contracted for direct cremation and that a private service was held at the funeral home. He declined an on-camera interview and, per the report, did not explain the discrepancies identified in the family's contract. The dossier does not indicate that either version of events has been independently confirmed, and the conflicting accounts remain unresolved.
With the viewing no longer possible, the Moore family moved the service to Bright Hope Baptist Church, a historic North 12th Street congregation founded in 1911 that once hosted Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. as a speaker at its 1963 sanctuary groundbreaking. The church sits eight blocks north of the funeral home, which was originally set to host the viewing on the 800 block of North 12th Street and can accommodate about 100 people, according to the report.
Family Still Waiting on Ashes
Chrystal Moore said her children and grandchildren could not say their last goodbyes because the cremation happened before the planned viewing. As of the report, the Moore family says it still has not received Clifton Moore's ashes.
Pennsylvania law generally requires funeral providers to obtain explicit written authorization from a designated next of kin — typically a surviving spouse or adult children — before cremating a body, according to Pennsylvania Cremation Services. Because cremation is irreversible, that written consent requirement exists specifically to prevent the kind of dispute the Moore family says it now faces. It remains unknown, per the available reporting, whether such written authorization was obtained in this case.
Savin Funeral Home, at 802 N. 12th Street, has operated in the neighborhood for a century. It was founded in 1926 by William “Billy” Savin and his wife Louise, according to background compiled by Parting. The three-story North Philadelphia establishment has served generations of local families at 12th and Brown Streets.
Broader Shift Toward Cremation, and Possible Consequences
The dispute lands amid a broader industry shift. About 58% of Pennsylvania deaths resulted in cremation as of this year, still below the projected national rate of 63.4%, according to data compiled by Choice Mutual. A direct cremation in Pennsylvania carries a median cost of $2,376, while a full-service cremation with a public viewing and memorial typically runs between $3,500 and $7,000 — a gap that mirrors the exact billing confusion at the center of the Moore family's contract. The Philadelphia Inquirer reported in 2022 that local funeral homes have increasingly shifted toward direct cremations, which skip embalming, dressing, and casket services, and a Savin representative told the paper at the time that such direct cremations yield lower revenue for the business.
Under Pennsylvania's Funeral Director Law, the state's Board of Funeral Directors can suspend or revoke a license over gross incompetency, misconduct, or misleading advertising. Separately, the Federal Trade Commission's Funeral Rule requires providers to give consumers an itemized price list before discussing arrangements and a written itemized statement before any payment is made, without unrequested charges. It is not known from available reporting whether state regulators have opened a formal investigation into Savin Funeral Home over this case.
Disputes over mishandled remains have surfaced elsewhere in recent months. Hoodline previously reported on a Massachusetts family's nine-month wait for a relative's ashes and on a Tennessee funeral home investigated after handing a family the wrong urn. For now, the Moore family says its central questions — why the cremation happened early, and when they will finally get Clifton Moore's ashes — remain unanswered.
