The daily monitor leader. [volume] (Mount Clemens, Mich.) 1942-19??, 1944-05-25
Body
Continued from Page One)

The court decision, it was Spe-
officially pointed out in the rul-
ing. did not answer the moth
er'S plea for the body, nor re-
jcct the wifc's petition; rather,
II answers the oft-cXprcSSed
fondneSs of the deceased man
for the quietudc, beauty and
ScutimentalItX of the graveyard
where his grandparents and
relatives are inferred.
Il would never have gone TO
court in the first place" Mrs.
BerniCe Still said today, had
il not been for my daughter
Pauline'S tears and pleadings.
She said she wanted Daddy
buried near her and Sandra
Kay"
CHARGES THREAT
In a dramatic court appear
ancc which was the highlight of
two days testimony, 14-year-
old Pauline took the witness
staad-Wednesday,- and-betweeh-
choking sobs, testified to a dep
love for her father, and Bit
terneSs towards her grandmoth-
or, who she said had threatened
TO put her in an institution IF
mother got Daddy's body"
The child told OF visiting her
father in the hospital three
times a week prior 10 his death
and Wept profusely when she
told how her grandmother and
Mrs. Ina Porter, friend of her
fathers, had returned from the
hospital one night with a bunch
of flowers Mrs. Still had sent
from Muskegon for her hus-
bands bedside:
Grandma just threw them on
the table, and said l could have
them the child testified.
'UNWELCOME'
Mrs. Still in the same after
noon testified that when she
telephoned the hospital and
asked if she could visit her hus-
band a hospital aide told her
that Mrs. Hoy and Mrs. Porter
had left instructions that she
would not be welcome" Mrs.
Still did not see her estranged
husband before he died, and,
when notified by her li-year-
old daughter of his impending
death, reached Mount Clemens
too late.
Paul S. Hirt, counsel for Mrs.
Hoy, and Ivan A. Johnston and /
Herman l.. BryS, attorneys for
the widow 5 and chlldren'S in !
tereSts fought battle involving (
citations from national legal |
authorities, because no Mlchi- !
gan precedent existed to guide |
the court or attorneys in the
rare dispute. Both sides quoted
numerous cases setting forth on
one hand, the paramount right
of the widow TO disposition Of
the husbands body, and in
vcrsely, the right of the deceas-
ed by his expressed wishes be-
fore death, 10 choose the place
favored for last resting place.
Judge Noes decision favored
the latter legal exam.
SERVICE FRIDAY
His decision today clears the !
way for funeral services TO be
held at the Kaul funeral chapel,
ST. Clair Shores, Friday evening,
after which the body Will be
shipped to.Traverse City.
Witnesses for Mrs. Hoy, and /,
the mother herself, testified to
Stills repeated expressions Of .
regard for the old burial ground /
near his home town. Especially
on Memorial Day occasions,
when relatives gathered to dec
crate the graves.
On the other hand, Mrs
Stills supporting witnesses not
only testified that Still had new
er mentioned death or burial,
but had evinced a fondness for
Muskcgon, where he had built
a home, and intimated that he
would return there.
Evidence was offered 10
show that the Monroe Center
Cemetery has no caretaker or
watering system, and is II miles
from Traverse City. Mrs. Stills
counsel offered evidence that
two Nuskegon Ccmetcr c
(Whcn Still had discussed pur-
chasing lots) receive perpetual
care. and one of them. a mCmor-
ial park, he had expressly adj
mlrCd
Bitter antagoniSm between
both sides of the legal dispute
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