Her father, Louis, died of complications from COVID-19 on January 15. But instead of being buried next to his father in a Richmond Hill cemetery north of Toronto as he wanted, his body is decomposing above ground in a nearby funeral home. And despite a court order ordering the Toronto-area man to be buried in a family plot at Headford Cemetery, Chotsu’s family members, along with the Bereavement Authority of Ontario (BAO), remain locked in a legal battle with the owner of the cemetery. BAO and the family say the landowner and representatives of the Orthodox Church of the Nativity of the Mother of God continue to deny access to the grave, violating a court order that said Louis’ remains must be buried by August 31. The church says it is not part of the dispute, but still claims the family does not have all the required documents to confirm its rights to the plot. The church is not named in any court order, however much of the logistical correspondence for the family has been with church representatives. The Orthodox Church of the Nativity of the Mother of God and the adjacent cemetery in Richmond Hill are owned by September 12 Inc. (Craig Chivers/CBC) Lisa says the stress of the situation is building. Some days she just breaks down, crying under the weight of the ordeal. “Sometimes I get so angry that I dig in my heels,” she said. But an attempt to advocate for her father from the UK, where he now lives, is negative. “I know life is not a movie and it’s possible to lose,” he said.

The Chochu family have had their plot in Headford Cemetery since 2014 and two other family members are already buried there. But when the cemetery and church were sold in 2020 to an entity called September 21 Inc., no one told the family, who no longer have relatives in the area. The situation escalated in January when church officials called the police, accusing funeral home employees who tried to prepare the burial site of trespassing, according to York Regional Police. The family says they have been trying to arrange a burial ever since, but to no avail. The Chotsu family says it has provided maps and ground-penetrating radar scans that confirm the location of the grave, which was marked and already bears a plaque bearing the family’s name. (Craig Chivers/CBC) The church has repeatedly denied any involvement in the situation to CBC News. However, in an email to the Chochu family’s lawyer, the Reverend Art Lambert, who is also a lawyer, said he is legally representing Sept. 21 regarding burial conditions. Lambert’s exact role within the church remains unclear. Company records do not disclose who owns Sept. 21. Records list the secretary and treasurer as well as the president, but CBC News was unable to reach them. Church officials did not respond to repeated requests for contact information. In an email to CBC News — signed by an anonymous board and sent shortly after the Aug. 31 deadline — the church claims the family does not have the required documents to assert its rights to the plot and is “trying to put the body in the grave that belongs to another person.” He did not provide details. “The cemetery owner believes he has a legal and moral duty to ensure that when a family buys a burial plot in the cemetery, that family can use the plot. Otherwise, no one is protected from losing the family’s grave or discovering strangers in a parental grave,” the email said. The family, meanwhile, has provided maps and ground-penetrating radar scans confirming the location of the grave, which was marked and already bears a tombstone bearing the name Tsotsos. David Brazeau, spokesman for the Ontario Bereavement Authority, says the church and the landowner are showing “complete disregard for a grieving family.” (Craig Chivers/CBC) “We have given all the documents,” Lisa told CBC News. The statement from the church also said the burial “appears imminent,” but officials did not respond when asked for specific dates.

“Totally tough”

The Chochu family has burial rights at the site and the right to bury Louis there, says David Brazeau, BAO communications chief. He said the organization, which regulates licensed cemeteries, funeral directors and similar establishments, had never seen anything like it. “It’s very unusual and completely cruel when you think about it. Eight months [with] the deceased family member was in cold storage at the time, he is decomposing … and that is causing a lot of distress to the family,” he said. “We don’t know why they’re doing this, it doesn’t make sense to us.” The Chotsu family says church officials and representatives have obstructed the burial at every turn — whether they disappear from mail for days on end, don’t respond when asked for documents required by the funeral home or, in August, telling the family that while a burial can take place, a graveside religious ceremony cannot. David Thompson, a litigation lawyer at Scarfone Hawkins LLP in Hamilton, who is not involved in the dispute, says he doesn’t think any attempt to impose conditions around a judge’s order will go down well in court. “That choice of nests, I don’t think will be looked upon favorably by the court at all. I think they’re going to say, ‘Let’s do this, let’s allow this family some closure and let’s stop this exodus.’” because it really, really unfair to those personally affected.” Thompson says that if a judge finds a party in the case to be in contempt of court, the court can impose a fine, jail time, or both. In the case of a corporation, the court can do the same to an officer or director, he said — though he noted that in civil contempt cases jail terms are rare and fines are “usually relatively low.” The court could also order a “seizure,” he said, which is when a sheriff takes control of a property for a period of time to enforce a court order. It is also possible that a sheriff’s officer will go to the cemetery, possibly with the support of local police, to see that the burial is being done properly, he said. As the conflict continues, Lisa says she feels like she’s being painted into a corner and must soon choose whether to cremate her father, against his religious wishes, or try to keep fighting indefinitely. “You have to honor the dead, for me it’s very important,” he said. “I may not be religious, but if it’s someone’s final wishes and that’s what they want, they’re not here to do it themselves and they’ve trusted you to carry it out.” Louis, right, is shown here on a trip with his daughter Lisa to Greece from 2019. (Submitted by Lisa Tsotsou)