Community leader buried in a false conspiracy for decades: lawsuit

Sidney Cooper and his wife purchased a joint burial plot at a California cemetery in 1992, and when Sidney Cooper died in 2001, his family understood he was buried beneath a headstone.

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When his wife died in March, she was to be buried next to him.

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But when family members opened the burial vault to lay their mother to rest next to their father, it was empty, according to a lawsuit.

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Their father, a well-respected man in his community who championed the celebration of Juneteenth in San Diego, was never buried in the plot he purchased with his wife decades prior at Greenwood Memorial Park and Mortuary, the lawsuit said.

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“They’ve been praying to an empty grave for 22 years,” their lawyer, Eric Dubin, who is co-representing the family with Annee Della Donna, told McClatchy News in a phone interview. “They were just devastated by this. It completely gutted them.”

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It wasn’t until after the family filed the lawsuit June 15, and local and national news outlets covered the ordeal, that Cooper’s remains were found June 23 in a nearby unmarked grave, Dubin said.

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The Coopers were buried together July 15, but the saga has caused the family extreme distress and anguish, their lawyers said.

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‘Horrific acts of misconduct’

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In a statement, Greenwood Memorial Park and Mortuary said that when Cooper was buried, the company was under different ownership.

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“In responding to a family’s question about the placement of their loved one who was interred over 20 years ago by previous ownership and management, Greenwood Memorial Park and Mortuary conducted an extensive review,” the statement emailed to McClatchy News says. “We concluded beyond any reasonable doubt that the loved one is indeed placed in a space adjacent to his wife. We will continue to support the family through their continued grief.”

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A spokesperson said Greenwood did not have any further comment on the lawsuit.

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But Dubin said Greenwood betrayed the Coopers’ trust on multiple levels.

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When Cooper’s body was eventually found, his casket was badly damaged, and his body was “mold infested,” Dubin said. The cemetery had not covered his casket in a plastic, waterproof container he had purchased along with his burial plot in 1992.

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Military medals his grandson had placed inside the casket had also been badly damaged, Dubin said.

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“Now we have two really horrific acts of misconduct by Greenwood against Mr. Cooper,” Dubin said.

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Cooper’s legacy

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Cooper’s daughter, Lana Cooper-Jones, described her father as a “self-made man” who left home at the age of 14.

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He was born in Redbird, Oklahoma, which was an all-Black town, and he was proud of who he was, she told McClatchy News.

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“He really believed in helping the less fortunate because he struggled for years and years,” she said in a phone interview.

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When he moved to San Diego, he became known as the “Mayor of Imperial Avenue,” which at that time was a street of mainly Black businesses, she said.

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Cooper owned a produce store and barber shop, and he often gave free groceries and hair cuts to people in need, she said. Her mother also loved her community and would often do acts of kindness, such as styling kids’ hair for free before the prom, she said.

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A large part of her father’s legacy was starting the tradition of celebrating Juneteenth, which became a federal holiday in 2021, in San Diego. It began as a family gathering and eventually grew to become an annual community event with free food, entertainment and speeches by local politicians, she said.

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“I think that was important to him because he believed that you need to know your history, and it’s important to know where you come from,” she said. “And it’s important that you be proud to be Black.”

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‘Don’t want any other family to go through what we went through’

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When Cooper-Jones’s mother died at 92 years old, Cooper-Jones said she was at peace because she knew her mother would be buried alongside her father.

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But when she discovered her father had never been buried in his rightful place, she was devastated.

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“She wanted to be with him,” she said of her mother.

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“Now my mother’s there by herself,” she said she thought at the time.

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Having to look for her father’s remains felt like losing him all over again, she said. After his body was found, her family buried him again with his wife, which has brought Cooper-Jones some solace. But she hopes Greenwood cemetery will never treat another family the way they treated hers again.

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“The way they treated us is horrible,” she said. “That just breaks my heart, and I just don’t want any other family to go through what we went through.”

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