'It's not fair': grieving family upset mother was buried in the wrong grave

MIDDLE SACKVILLE, N.S. -

Visiting their mother's gave in Middle Sackville is an emotionally charged experience for Dawn Marie Lynch and Beth Sparks -- and not just because the funeral was only two weeks ago.

Eighty-three-year-old Barbara Ruth Lynch lived a full life, centred largely on family and community work.

Her death on Oct. 31 was a sad day for everyone, but the funeral on Nov. 3 produced a surprise: Barbara was being buried in a different plot than the one she'd arranged.

"We've lost our Mom, and then they buried her in the wrong spot, which, we said anybody could make a mistake, and we were pretty understanding, I think, about it," Lynch told CTV News on Wednesday.

"And now it's to try to get her fixed, and it's been 14 or 15 days, with her being buried in the wrong spot."

Indeed, it seems to be a very honest mistake.

Meticulous Barbara had planned her own funeral years earlier, leaving an entire binder full of instructions for the family.

She also purchased plots and headstones for immediate family members, and had them installed in the cemetery, mapped out to her specifications.

She and her husband were meant to lie together in the upper left corner of the square block, but a second stone with their names in the centre is meant to designate the entire space as a family plot.

That's where Barbara wound up.

With the hole already dug on the day of the funeral, the family was assured the mistake would be fixed promptly.

Two weeks later, that hasn't happened.

The site appears unfinished, largely full of water when CTV visited.

"She doesn't deserve to be lying in this ground the way she is," says Sparks. "It's hard enough to bury your loved one, your friend, your mother. Your grandparent to your grandchildren. It's not fair."

CTV News reached out to the company responsible for the burial, but got no response by news time.

The family says there were told the gravedigger was away, and wouldn't be back for several more days.

The funeral home that handled the service says it'll be reaching out to the family to try to arrange a solution.

That can't come soon enough for anyone associated with Barbara Lynch.

"None of us, none of our family members deserve the treatment that Barb has gotten," said close family friend Vicki Robar.

So, for now, there is little comfort for a grieving family, who's loved one planned foralmosteverything it seems.

"The only thing that Mom did not have done, was her own hole dug in this ground," said Lynch.