Family mourns wrong person after funeral mix-up, cremation gone wrong

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Val-Jean McDonald lost her battle with cancer in December, and 11 days later, the family held a funeral for her as her 8 sons, 20 grandchildren and several great-grandchildren stopped by to pay their respects.

But while the body in the coffin was wearing McDonald’s favorite blouse and suit, as well as her finest jewelry, something was wrong.

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“Why did they cut off all her hair?” a son, Errol McDonald, 57, remembers thinking. “Maybe it’s the cancer.”

“My 10-year-old son said, ‘Daddy, that’s not Grandma,’” Errol McDonald said. “I said, ‘Yes, that’s what happens,’” he added, saying that he explained to his son that sometimes people looked different after they died.

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The next day, the family attended Val-Jean’s cremation, but six days later, another son, Reverend Richard McDonald, received a call from McCall’s Bronxwood Funeral Home.

“She says, ‘That body was not your mother,’” Richard McDonald said. “‘Your mother is still here.’”

Val-Jean McDonald was still at the funeral home, and another woman had accidentally been placed in the coffin instead. Side-by-side photos of the two women show that they were about the same height and build with similar complexions.

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After learning of the mistake, the brothers all staged another funeral, this time with their real mother, with a brief viewing. Four members of her family saw her.

A spokesman for McCall’s, George Arzt, said that the home was working with the family but declined to comment on the specifics of how the mixup occurred, saying instead, “We have spoken to the families affected and acknowledged our deepest sorrows.”