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Burial delays
anger families
Honolulu Memorial plot owners
have waited a year to see
the cemetery reopen
More than a year after emerging from bankruptcy, Honolulu Memorial Park has been unable to renew its cemetery license, creating a mound of uncertainty among families wanting to bury loved ones there.
Some are holding onto the cremated remains of departed relatives until the historic cemetery's future becomes more settled.
For now, that future is as unsettled as the fate of its aging and deteriorating pagoda, recently designated a local and national historic landmark.
A transfer of ownership is on hold while the principals pushing to reopen the cemetery try to resolve a bonding problem that so far has prevented Honolulu Memorial from getting a new license. (Even though the cemetery isn't licensed, people still are able to visit grave sites).
Businessman Vic Hejmadi, a key figure in the cemetery's reopening efforts, said he is hopeful the cemetery will be licensed and running again during the first quarter of 2005.
But families who own plots and niches at the Nuuanu facility say they've been mostly kept in the dark about reopening plans, and expressed skepticism about the efforts of Hejmadi and his group, including City Councilman Rod Tam.
"We were depending on them to lead us, to guide us," said Ivan Hoe, who owns a niche in the pagoda. "Now we're suspicious."
Such suspicions have come from experience.
In recent years the cemetery has been plagued by controversy, leading some owners to question whether their investment in the cemetery would be protected. Some purchased their niches and plots in the 1960s, when the Richards family opened the cemetery on what is now prime Oahu real estate.
Milton Taba not only tends his family plot at Honolulu Memorial Park, he cuts grass for neighboring tombs as well. No money is being spent on maintenance while the recently bankrupt cemetery tries to complete a transfer of ownership.
In September 2003, the Richards family closed the complex, saying they could no longer afford the monthly maintenance bills.
If that wasn't trouble enough, police have been involved in a number of incidents at the cemetery.
One plot owner was arrested after he struck a worker in the cemetery office. He later pleaded no contest to assault and impersonating a police officer.
More recently, police say they have an ongoing investigation into the alleged theft of several thousand dollars of cemetery funds by a man who had been performing Buddhist services there and was helping run the cemetery office. The suspect is believed to be on the mainland.
Honolulu Memorial's bankruptcy case was dismissed in September 2003 as part of a plan to transfer ownership of the cemetery to a nonprofit organization. In conjunction with that plan, Hejmadi's group began efforts to reopen the cemetery.
But some plot owners have been critical of those efforts, saying there has been little information provided to the 4,000-plus families who own stakes in the cemetery.
Among their criticisms is the lack of accountability on what happened to the various cemetery-related funds holding over $1 million, including more than $50,000 raised late last year through donations.
"We have largely been shut out," said Ann Ono, who owns a Honolulu Memorial plot. "Our questions have gone unanswered."
Tam said he's kept people abreast of developments as best he could, but little has happened recently. "There's been nothing to report for about the past three months," he said.
"You don't want to raise a lot of hopes and nothing comes of it," Hejmadi added. "We try as much as possible not to antagonize any one group. The best way to do that is to do everything the right way."
Hejmadi said that with the exception of one bank account, all the money in the cemetery-related funds has been accounted for. The exception is an account that has been frozen by the bank because of a tie to the suspect in the theft case, according to Hejmadi.
Adding to Honolulu Memorial's woes, Tam said no money is being spent on maintenance, the electricity has been cut off and some parts of the cemetery are without water because of plumbing problems. Ground maintenance is being performed by volunteers, and burials, when they are done, are being handled by an outside entity that has a cemetery license. Tam said he goes to the cemetery every other day to empty trash containers.
Compounding the financial problems, no new plots or niches can be sold to generate revenue until Honolulu Memorial is licensed again.
Tam said he's not sure how much longer the cemetery can be run this way, raising the possibility that if nothing changes soon, Honolulu Memorial could wind up in bankruptcy court again.
Hejmadi said he's willing to underwrite the $100,000 bond required to get the cemetery license. But if he puts his money at risk, he said, he wants to be able to name the three interim trustees to the board of Honolulu Memorial Association, the group charged with providing perpetual care to the cemetery.
Until the bonding issue is resolved and the license obtained, the ownership transfer cannot be completed. Some 90 percent of the stock of the cemetery is being held in an escrow account awaiting the transfer, according to Hejmadi.
Bruce Matsui, one of the three current HMA trustees, said the three would be willing to step down if Hejmadi's trustee-succession plan is done according to the rules the association must follow.
Any proposed change in trustees must be approved by a majority vote of the niche and plot owners.
Hejmadi said he had met Friday with Matsui to discuss the succession plan and that he anticipates it will proceed.
Given the cemetery's history, some plot and niche owners remain unconvinced that it will reopen soon. Hoe and Ono said they regularly get calls from people wondering what is happening and waiting to bury ashes of relatives there.
"There's many, many, many of them," Hoe said.
Until the cemetery's problems are resolved, Wayne Kotomori said he's holding off on placing his late father's cremated remains in the family plot.
"That's where he wanted to be buried," Kotomori said. "But with all the controversy surrounding the cemetery, that's all up in the air. We don't want to do anything until this is all settled."
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