N.S. families thought they buried their loved ones.
asserted
they → think → ones
Officials are now investigating
New funeral home owner discovers ‘significant number’ of human ashes in storage
asserted
owner → investigate → storage
The province and the Nova Scotia regulator of funeral directors are investigating after the new owners of an Annapolis Valley funeral home discovered the cremated remains of a “significant number” of people in storage, CBC News has learned.
asserted
News → investigate → storage
It comes as several Nova Scotia families who used the services of Serenity Funeral Home say they were shocked and horrified to receive calls letting them know that ashes belonging to their dead loved ones had been found.
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ashes → come → ones
“I kind of started internally freaking out because I buried my mom in 2024,” said Kristina Sweeney.
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Sweeney → start → 2024
“I don't even think the shock has worn off yet.…
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shock → think → ?
I thought I buried my mom, all of her.
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I → think → her
I put her in the ground by myself.”
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I → put → myself
Sweeney wasn't the only one contacted by East Coast Memorial, which recently purchased the buildings from Serenity Funeral Home.
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which → contact → Home
Serenity’s head office and crematorium were located in the small community of Coldbrook.
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office → locate → Coldbrook
The company also had other locations in the Annapolis Valley.
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company → have → Valley
Michelle Carey and her sister Amanda Sabean used Serenity when they buried what they believed were the cremated remains of their father, Hendrik (Hank) Sabean, in the spring of 2018.
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they → use → 2018
On Sept. 8, Carey was informed by East Coast Memorial that her father’s full remains were found in storage.
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remains → inform → storage
“Having to, you know, bury him and to do this all over again.
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you → have → this
It's really hard,” said Carey.
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Carey → say → ?
The sisters are also left wondering whose remains they buried.
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they → leave → remains
“There’s a family out there that's missing remains of their family member,” said Sabean.
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Sabean → ’ → member
In an email, Andrew George, the owner of the new business East Coast Memorial, explained that his company discovered “a significant number of cremated remains that had been left in storage, some for many, many years.”
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that → explain → years
George said he and his staff are carefully reviewing the home’s information to “make every reasonable effort to locate and contact families so that these loved ones could be returned to their families or otherwise laid to rest appropriately.”
uncertain
ones → say → rest
‘Dozens’ of other urns found, daughter told
Sweeney said when her mother, Elizabeth Pelton, died in 2023 at the age of 60, her body was cremated.
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body → find → 60
Sweeney chose a green urn, which she received and buried.
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she → choose → which
This month, the employee of East Coast Memorial who returned what’s believed to be the rest of her mother’s ashes gave her a green urn with a different pattern.
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what → return → pattern
It had been identified with a sticky note label as her mother’s.
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It → identify → mother
Sweeney said the employee told her that there were “dozens” of other urns found.
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employee → say → urns
Another family told CBC their loved one’s remains were delivered to them in a cardboard box.
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remains → tell → box
Sweeney wrote a post on Facebook about her experience and started receiving responses from other families.
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Sweeney → write → families
They recounted similar experiences, believing that they had received and buried their loved ones.
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they → recount → ones
Then they were contacted by East Coast Memorial years later suggesting otherwise.
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they → contact → Memorial
“Every single person I've spoken to was under the impression that they had taken care of all the remains,” Sweeney said.
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Sweeney → speak → remains
“They were either buried or they took the urn home.”
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they → bury → urn
George said his company is still assessing all the cases and doing its due diligence “as thoroughly as possible for each family,” and so he isn’t able to say exactly how many persons’ remains were found.
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remains → say → family
Former owner responds
When CBC reached Tony Facey, a former owner of Serenity Funeral Home for 12 years until December 2025, he confirmed there was a “whole stack” of cremated remains dating back as far as 25 years that had never been claimed by families.
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that → respond → families
He said unclaimed remains is a wider issue all funeral homes are dealing with, and this has been an ongoing discussion at the regulatory board.
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this → say → board
Facey declined an interview.
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Facey → decline → interview
The president of the Funeral Service Association of Nova Scotia, Kollin Weatherbee, said he’s never heard of a funeral home keeping decades of unclaimed remains.
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home → say → remains
“It is unusual that a funeral home would hold a portion of someone's ashes without the family knowing,” he said.
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he → hold → ashes
Weatherbee added that if a funeral home held ashes for a family, it would only be for a matter of weeks.
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it → add → weeks
And in situations where a next of kin can’t be identified or reached, he said the public trustee usually gets involved within the first 12 days of a death.
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trustee → identify → death
Provincial inspectors visit
The province licenses and regulates funeral homes through Service Nova Scotia, while an arm’s-length board licenses and regulates funeral home directors.
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board → visit → directors
The province learned of the stored ashes on Sept. 9 when it was contacted by that board and George, the owner of East Coast Memorial.
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it → learn → Memorial
…and 15 more, not listed.
The Aporia
