Would you act this way at a funeral?

BEDFORD,INDIANA — A violent outburst at a Martinsville funeral home last week sent two people to the hospital and four others to the Morgan County Jail.

Unthinkable?

“I can’t say I’m surprised,” said John Sherrill of Cresthaven Funeral Home between Bedford and Mitchell. “This is a new age. People have changed.”

The violence erupted when an ex-wife of Jeff Gary and her family showed up for Gary’s visitation. The fight began inside the building and quickly shifted to the parking lot. Officers responding to the incident discovered three firearms.

“It could have been a lot worse,” Sherrill said. “Guns at a funeral home is a bad, bad idea.”

Brian Pace of Day & Carter Mortuary concurred.

“What scared me most was that weapons surfaced,” he said. “That’s always a concern. I’ve been here for 20 years now and I’ve seen some knock-down, drag-out, nasty confrontations.”

Bob Lee of Ferguson-Lee Funeral Home said the majority of people visiting funeral homes are well behaved.

“You can count on most people to act like ladies and gentlemen,” he explained. “Every once in a while you get one of these Hatfield-McCoy situations, and alcohol can make a bad situation worse. We’ve had to call the police a couple of times.”

Sherrill said people need to understand a public showing is just that — a public showing.

“Once you decide to publicize it, you are opening it up to the public,” he explained. “Unless you decide to have a private showing, anybody and everybody is welcome. You can’t turn someone away just because you don’t like them.”

Pace said he tries to anticipate potentially volatile circumstances and defuse them before they ignite.

My late Husbands ex-wife came to his funeral and I didn't throw a fit over it. She had been a part of his life to.

WE all have a past!