Shannon Fleming and her mother, former Lithgow resident Rhondell Fleming, travelled from Perth to Lithgow to see the headstone Shannon had purchased for her grandmother’s grave in Lithgow General Cemetery, only to find it had been placed on lot 46 instead of the correct grave in lot 4.
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The pair are now seeking compensation from Lithgow City Council for their trip.
“You can imagine the insurmountable upset and anguish we felt when we arrived at Lithgow Cemetery with the priest, to find the headstone had been put on the wrong grave,” Rhondell Fleming wrote in a letter to the council.
Rhondell and her daughter Shannon Fleming were unable to attend the funeral of Edna Margaret Brooks in 1993 as they were overseas mourning the death of another family member at the time of her passing.
Shannon had arranged a memorial and flights for herself and her mother to see the headstone she had purchased for her grandmother’s grave.
“It was a very big moment for us to say goodbye. It was us saying we loved her dearly by putting in a headstone that was rightfully hers,” Shannon said.
“As I started walking down the pathway I could see the new monument down the other end of the cemetery. That moment has gone, and it was all for nothing.”
Works manager of Lithgow City Council, Jonathon Edgecombe, said the mix up had occurred because the council’s record of the 1993 burial was incorrect.
“The reason for that was when the notice of permit for burial was filled out by the undertaker there was a discrepancy between the permit for burial and the other documents. It was extremely unfortunate but that had been provided by the undertakers.”
“This is the first mix up I’ve encountered. The procedure has changed from 1993, it wouldn’t allow for that kind of mistake to occur now.”
Mr Edgecombe said the council had replied to the Flemings’ request for compensation on September 12, but Shannon said she had not received a response from council when she spoke to the Lithgow Mercury on September 20.
Mr Edgecombe said the council would not reimburse the pair’s travel costs but would pay to correct the wrongful placement of the headstone.
The mason who made and placed the headstone confirmed the council has promised to reimburse him for making a second monument, which he said has since been placed on Edna Brooks’ grave.
