Funeral home staffers drop casket, body falls out

Body falls out in front of loved ones, family reaches settlement with funeral home

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – A Grand Rapids family is reaching a settlement with the funeral home whose staff members dropped their mother's casket back in 2010.

WOOD-TV reports staff members from the Ivy K. Gillespie Funeral home were carrying the body of Ellnora James when they dropped the casket, causing the body to fall onto the ground. 

James passed away at the age of 67 and it's been an on-going battle with the family and the funeral home ever since the funeral disaster. 

Family members say the dropping of the casket happened as they prepared to say goodbye to their mother at a funeral service at Neland Christian Reformed Church in Grand Rapids.

They say their mother's casket broke, her glasses were lost, and some embalming fluid spilled onto her clothes. 

The funeral went on after staff changed her outfitt and put James in a new casket.

This week, the family, not over what happened to their mother, reached an 80-thousand dollar settlement with the funeral home.