Ala. man fights to keep wife buried in front yard

[blueyes]

STEVENSON, Ala. (AP) — James Davis is fighting to keep the remains of his late wife right where he dug her grave: In the front yard of his home, just a few feet from the porch.

Davis said he was only abiding by Patsy Ruth Davis' wishes when he buried her outside their log home in 2009, yet the city sued to move the body elsewhere. A county judge ordered Davis to disinter his wife, but the ruling is on hold as the Alabama Civil Court of Appeals considers his challenge.

Davis, 73, said he never expected such a fight.

"Good Lord, they've raised pigs in their yard, there's horses out the road here in a corral in the city limits, they've got other gravesites here all over the place," said Davis. "And there shouldn't have been a problem."

While state health officials say family burial plots aren't uncommon in Alabama, city officials worry about the precedent set by allowing a grave on a residential lot on one of the main streets through town. They say state law gives the city some control over where people bury their loved ones and have cited concerns about long-term care, appearance, property values and the complaints of some neighbors.

"We're not in the 1800s any longer," said city attorney Parker Edmiston. "We're not talking about a homestead, we're not talking about someone who is out in the country on 40 acres of land. Mr. Davis lives in downtown Stevenson."


For more on this story:
http://news.yahoo.com/ala-man-fights-keep-wife-buried-front-yard-153303814.html

I hope he wins... Id like to be buried here at home, so I can relate to the way he feels.

[Ambrossia]

I feel for both the husband and the one who has final say in this matter.

We have the wishes of the wife, which should be upheld to best of ability.
We have the fact that they own? their property.
Yes it is in city limits, however, if they're allowed the horses and pigs to roam in their front yard, there shouldn't be an argument about property value concerning the hood.
Appearance and long term care? What? It's where someone is buried.. if someone wants to be buried on a hill in the middle of nowhere, do you think it should be maintained? I don't think so.. so if it's in a yard, I think prior care that was given to the yard would fit just fine. She didn't choose it because it "appears" to be any different from the next yard, but because it was home, I am sure. Estates change hands just as well as common land. I don't see the difference.

As for the complaints, I can see where some might be appalled by it, but those people need to look deeper inside themselves and ask if they really want to be buried with hundreds of other dead people. Personally, I want to be buried out at sea, food for the sharks. Or in the woods somewhere where there isn't any markers. On my own land would be great, but like I said before, land changes hands and I don't want someone stumbling upon my grave and freak out.

[blueyes]

I wouldnt want to freak any future landowners out. I hadn't thought about that.
Grave yards always seem peaceful to me, ghosts do no scare me. (The living scare me more.)

Still rooting for the husband. 
I need to find out what the laws are here.