Sisters allege graves of mom, stepdad are not where they should be in Woodbridge cemetery

WOODBRIDGE - Two Brooklyn sisters have gone to court because they don't know exactly where their mother and stepfather are buried in a Woodbridge cemetery.

They don't know if the couple, Carole and Anthony (Tony) Saber of Brooklyn, who were married for almost 20 years, are buried next to each other as had been planned, if they are buried at the location designated on the cemetery's paperwork and map, if their stepfather's grave marker is at his head or feet, if both graves have been moved, perhaps even more than once, without their knowledge or authorization, and they don't know why they can't get their concerns addressed, according to the lawsuit filed in Middlesex County Superior Court.

As a result, the sisters say they have have experienced nightmares, depression, anxiety, sleeplessness, anger, feelings of betrayal, and have sought the treatment of therapists.

The sisters have made the allegations in a lawsuit against Beth Israel Cemetery, Stonemor Partners, doing business as Everstory Partners, the cemetery owner and operator, and the Brooklyn funeral home that handled the funeral arrangements.

The lawsuit argues the sisters' inability to conclusively establish where the graves are has prevented them from properly mourning their mother, placing a monument and having an opening on the one-year anniversary of her death.

The cemetery has not responded to an email request for comment.

According to the lawsuit, Machado and Dortz are the daughters of Carole Saber and the stepdaughters of Anthony Saber, a family friend who married Carole when the sisters were teenagers and was a father to the sisters and walked Dortz down the aisle when she got married.

Anthony Saber died on April 22, 1999 and was buried four days later in Beth Israel Cemetery on Woodbridge Center Drive. He was interred at in Block 24, Row H, Plot 1, Grave 11 and shortly after he was buried a monument was placed at his grave, the lawsuit states.

Photos taken after the monument was installed showed a large space and a tree between Anthony Saber's grave and the next closest monument. The sisters regularly visited their stepfather's grave.

"In fact, in or about 2005, Stefanie visited Tony’s grave more frequently — sometimes several times a month — because she was dating someone who was training to be a pilot out of Linden Airport and often waited for him with a book at Tony’s grave," the lawsuit states.

Carole Saber died April 2, 2022 and Dortz used a Brooklyn funeral home for the arrangements. Saber was to be interred two days later at Block 24, Row H, Plot 1, Grave 12 in Beth Israel Cemetery, to the right of her husband. The day of the funeral came after there had been heavy rain, mud and flooding, the lawsuit states.

Though the rain had stopped on the day of the funeral, there was dirt throughout the section of the cemetery and the ground was so wet family members were unable to shovel dirt onto Saber's grave, as part of a Jewish tradition. The funeral was so muddy Machado had to throw away the shoes she wore to the cemetery, the lawsuit states.

According to the lawsuit during her mother's funeral, Machado tried to find her stepfather's monument but it was not near her mother's grave. Cemetery workers told her things were being moved and to contact the office for information.

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On Aug. 1, 2022, Carole Saber's birthday, Machado was in the area and decided to visit the cemetery but when she approached the area designated for her mother and stepfather's grave, she couldn't find her mother's grave or her stepfather's monument, according to the lawsuit.

When she asked cemetery workers to help her find her mother's grave, they led her to a patch of sunken ground, away from the other monuments, and not near her stepfather's grave and not near the location where she had visited her stepfather's grave in the past, the lawsuit states.

After searching she found her stepfather's grave several rows away and not near her mother's grave. She alerted the cemetery that her parents did not appear to be buried together, or in the right location, the lawsuit states.

Two days later cemetery personnel emailed her photos of the grave site with the marker reinstalled, but there was fresh soil and several other markers for graves that were not previously near her mother's and her stepfather's monument was facing in a different direction. When she visited the cemetery a few days later she found her stepfather's monument was in a different area than where she had previously visited and the monument had been turned around, according to the lawsuit.

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The lawsuit states the sisters have no choice but to believe that the Saber's are not buried together or in the same location.

"As a result of being unsure where Carole’s remains are actually located, plaintiffs have been unable to place a monument for their mother and were cheated out of the important Jewish tradition of an “unveiling” after a full year of mourning," the lawsuit states, adding there has not been an interment place for the sisters to visit their mother for the last two years.

The lawsuit states that under the New Jersey Cemetery Act human remains may not be moved from an interment space without authorization from the deceased’s family. The lawsuit alleges the cemetery moved the Sabers' monuments to match the cemetery map, or the cemetery disinterred and reinterred the Sabers' without the sisters' knowledge or permission.

Email: srussell@gannettnj.com

Suzanne Russell is a breaking news reporter for MyCentralJersey.com covering crime, courts and other mayhem. To get unlimited access, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.

This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: Sisters file lawsuit after unable to find parents' graves in Woodbridge cemetery