Class-action lawsuit filed against South Deering funeral home for mishandling 56 bodies
<p>A Texas woman launched a class-action lawsuit Tuesday against the South Deering funeral home that allegedly mishandled the remains of her father along with <a class="Link" href="https://chicago.suntimes.com/news/2026/08/06/decomposing-bodies-found-funeral-home-south-chicago-chapel-95th-street" target="_blank" ><u>dozens of other bodies</u></a> that were found in various states of unrefrigerated decomposition last week.</p><p>South Chicago Chapel took possession of Terrance Fallie’s body the day he died Aug. 4, according to the suit filed in Cook County Circuit Court by his daughter, Dyanna Burt-Finnie.</p><p>That was four days after the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation first received “information about potential operational concerns” at the facility run by <a class="Link" href="https://chicago.suntimes.com/chicago/2026/08/07/owners-of-far-south-side-funeral-home-have-history-of-mishandling-human-remains" target="_blank" ><u>Clark and Johanna Morgan</u></a><u>.</u> Johanna Morgan's state funeral director license was suspended Aug.
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<p>A Texas woman launched a class-action lawsuit Tuesday against the South Deering funeral home that allegedly mishandled the remains of her father along with <a class="Link" href="https://chicago.suntimes.com/news/2026/08/06/decomposing-bodies-found-funeral-home-south-chicago-chapel-95th-street" target="_blank" ><u>dozens of other bodies</u></a> that were found in various states of unrefrigerated decomposition last week.</p><p>South Chicago Chapel took possession of Terrance Fallie’s body the day he died Aug. 4, according to the suit filed in Cook County Circuit Court by his daughter, Dyanna Burt-Finnie.</p><p>That was four days after the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation first received “information about potential operational concerns” at the facility run by <a class="Link" href="https://chicago.suntimes.com/chicago/2026/08/07/owners-of-far-south-side-funeral-home-have-history-of-mishandling-human-remains" target="_blank" ><u>Clark and Johanna Morgan</u></a><u>.</u> Johanna Morgan's state funeral director license was suspended Aug. 5 for allowing “decedents to be kept in an unrefrigerated area with deplorable conditions.”</p><p>Representatives for Burt-Finnie went to the chapel at 2939 E. 6 to take Fallie’s body to another funeral home, arriving as <a class="Link" href="https://chicago.suntimes.com/politics/2026/08/10/south-chicago-chapel-funeral-home-oversight-illinois-decomposing-bodies" target="_blank" ><u>city, county and state authorities</u></a> were removing 56 bodies that had been neglected, according to officials and the suit.</p><p>Burt-Finnie’s suit notes “neighbors had smelled an odor akin to a dead animal emanating from Defendant’s funeral home for approximately two months prior to the discovery.”</p><p>The grisly conditions were revealed a year after the state shut down <a class="Link" href="https://chicago.suntimes.com/news/2025/06/19/chicago-heights-crematory-bodies-death-license-closed" target="_blank" ><u>a Chicago Heights crematory</u></a> run by the Morgans, who are facing more than 20 lawsuits for allegedly mishandling the remains of about 100 people in that case.</p><p>An attorney representing the Morgans did not respond to requests for comment.</p><p>Clark Morgan lost his funeral director’s license for “unprofessional conduct” and working on an expired license in 2024, state records show.</p><p>Criminal charges haven’t been filed.
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- <p>A Texas woman launched a class-action lawsuit Tuesday against the South Deering funeral home that allegedly mishandled the remains of her father along with <a class="Link" href="https://chicago.suntimes.com/news/2026/08/06/decomposing-bodies-found-funeral-home-south-chicago-chapel-95th-street" target="_blank" ><u>dozens of other bodies</u></a> that were found in various states of unrefrigerated decomposition last week.</p><p>South Chicago Chapel took possession of Terrance Fallie’s body the day he died Aug. 4, according to the suit filed in Cook County Circuit Court by his daughter, Dyanna Burt-Finnie.</p><p>That was four days after the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation first received “information about potential operational concerns” at the facility run by <a class="Link" href="https://chicago.suntimes.com/chicago/2026/08/07/owners-of-far-south-side-funeral-home-have-history-of-mishandling-human-remains" target="_blank" ><u>Clark and Johanna Morgan</u></a><u>.</u> Johanna Morgan's state funeral director license was suspended Aug.
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Class-action lawsuit filed against South Deering funeral home for mishandling 56 bodies
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