Although the sanctions represent little more than a virtual slap on the wrist, the state board that regulates funeral services in Alabama has temporarily suspended the license of an Atmore mortician and temporarily closed the funeral parlor he has operated for the past 15-plus years.
Charles Perine, executive director of the Alabama Board of Funeral Services (ABFS), confirmed this week that Ewing J. Mayberry Jr., owner and operator of Mayberry Funeral Home, signed a consent agreement that includes suspension of Mayberry’s license for a month and closure of the Carver Street business for 40 days.
“All I can tell you is that disciplinary action has been taken against Mr. Mayberry,” Perine said during a brief telephone interview. “He signed a consent agreement on October 20, and his license was suspended until November 20. The funeral home’s license was suspended until December 1.”
Perine wouldn’t divulge any further details on the agreement but suggested a written request could produce some of the information. Atmore Free Press has filed such a request.
A source close to the situation said Mayberry’s latest problems were due to the funeral director “engaging in deceptive or unfair practices,” most of them of a financial nature.
“About two dozen families or companies have filed complaints against (Mayberry), and I understand that there are more to come.” the source said. “They range from money he owes them, to services that were not completed. He got off easy; he could have gotten a two-year suspension.”
According to documents posted online by Southern District of Alabama Bankruptcy Court, Mayberry filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection (Case #23-12503) in 2023 when angry family members began demanding refunds and businesses throughout the Eastern United States, plus one in Canada, demanded payment for past due amounts.
The filing listed more than $20,000 in unsecured debt, including $1,364 to an Atmore florist. It also lists about $40,000 in judgments issued against Mayberry, including more than $18,000 to a Mobile firm that sells furniture and home decor; $17,261.25 to a Kentucky casket company; more than $6,000 to a Birmingham funeral home, and $5,400 to a Canadian company that provides products and services related to funerals, cremations and cemetery supplies.
An Atmore man filed a claim for $2,500; a Cantonment individual who purchased a Mayberry loan filed a $9,000 claim, and a Mobile family demanded a refund of almost $7,000. Also included in the bankruptcy filing were four auto loans totaling $118,500. Those were secured by the automobiles — a $40,000 hearse and three limousines.
No payment schedule was spelled out in the federal court action, and the remaining balances on those financial obligations were not known.
Mayberry, who first obtained a City of Atmore business license on December 8, 2009, said the disciplinary action was really no big deal.
“I didn’t know this was newsworthy,” he declared in a phone interview. “It’s not permanent, and the funeral home is not, per se, closed.”
He directed further questions to his legal counsel, Monroeville attorney Leston C. “Les” Stallworth. Calls made Monday afternoon to the lawyer resulted in a recorded message that the person at that number was not available and that the caller should try again later.
The funeral home’s sign has been removed from its building, and the front door was padlocked in the early afternoon of October 24 when the first attempt was made to reach the beleaguered mortician.
Mayberry did not comment on reports that when the funeral home reopens on December 1, it will be under a new name, reportedly Atmore Community Funeral Home.
