PALO ALTO: Local families feel impact of cremains case

Remains of 106 from Palo Alto funeral home were never scattered

by Vicky Anning

When 73-year-old Maxine Reilly heard news reports in June that thousands of boxes of supposedly scattered cremains had been discovered in a warehouse in Contra Costa County, it never dawned on her that her family might be involved. But two months later Reilly found out that her sister--Ruth Capovilla--was among the 5,000 Bay Area residents whose final wishes were ignored when pilot Allan Vieira failed to scatter their ashes. Capovilla's remains were found in a carefully labeled box in an East Bay warehouse.

"I was just shocked," said Reilly. "I couldn't say anything. I went numb."

On Monday, Reilly and her remaining family came together for a memorial service at the First United Methodist Church on Hamilton Avenue in Palo Alto to remember her older sister, Ruth, who attended the church for 50 years before she died of cancer in 1992.

The service was shared with Reilly's third sister, Birdie Medvec, who died on Sept. 25 this year at age 76 in Mesa, Ariz. The cremains of the two sisters were buried alongside their mother's grave at Alta Mesa Cemetery in Palo Alto.

For Reilly's family, the joint service will offer some kind of closure to the ordeal that began when they found that Capovilla's cremains had not been scattered.

"As a family, it reopened the grief that we thought was settled," said Capovilla's daughter, Sharon Vecsey-Jernstrom, who was baptized at the First United Methodist Church. "I'm thankful because I always wanted (my mother) to be remembered at this church, rather than at some funeral home."

According to records released by the Contra Costa County Sheriff's Department, Capovilla was among 106 people cremated by the Palo Alto funeral parlor Roller & Hapgood & Tinney on Middlefield Road and whose remains were handed over to Al Vieira Flying Service.

The funeral parlor sent out notification in August to relatives of the deceased whose cremains had been found in Vieira's possession, according to documents obtained by the Palo Alto Weekly.

A person who answered the phone at Roller & Hapgood & Tinney on Monday said they were under court order not to discuss the case.

Some of the families affected by the Vieira case have grouped together to file a class action suit, although the pilot is no longer alive. Vieira's body was found in a remote area of Calaveras County in June, after apparently committing suicide.

According to police records, another local funeral home--Spangler Mortuaries in Menlo Park--is also involved in the Vieira case. The remains of about 65 people cremated by Spangler were never scattered. A Spangler official also declined to comment on Monday.

Relatives seeking information about cremains should call (800) 780-8015. Lawyers for relatives have set up an information line at (800) 853-5936.

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