ANDERSON — From his time in Alabama, to his work in Anderson, funeral home owner L.C. May has experienced a lot in his five decades in the business — including the time a dead man appeared in court.
May was recently honored by the Indiana Funeral Directors Association for his 50 years of service as a licensed mortician. L.C. May Funeral Services is located at 2024 Madison Ave.
“I just love the funeral business,” said May, 76. “I just like talking with people and helping them out.”
The funeral home celebrated May’s recognition with an open house and voter registration drive on Sunday. The event included live broadcasts from a trio of radio stations throughout the day.
Stanley R. May, L.C. May’s son, said close to 200 people attended the open house, and about 10 people became registered voters. The funeral home has been in operation since 1960. Although he makes visits to the mortuary, L.C. May has mostly retired from the business. Stanley May is responsible for day-to-day operations.
“We started here and remained here in the community,” Stanley May said.
May and his wife, Katherine, have been married 51 years. The couple has four boys and a girl. Originally from Grady, Ala., he moved to Anderson in 1951. Like many, he relocated after a relative told him Delco Remy was hiring. He stayed with the company for nearly 44 years, pulling “double duty,” as he calls it, also conducting funerals. May said it’s difficult to say how many funerals he’s conducted.
“I don’t know what the number is — hundreds, maybe thousands,” he said. “Shoot, I lost count.”
May’s first foray in the funeral business was in Alabama and less than auspicious, he said, helping a friend load a corpse into a truck.
“I bet I looked at my hands and must have washed them 20 times,” May said, “making sure there wasn’t anything on them. And that was my first time in the business.”
Now back to that dead man in court.
May has forgotten key dates and the names of most of those involved, but he tells the story with something akin to glee, seeming to savor every detail.
The story starts simply enough: May said in the late 1960s an indigent Madison County Jail inmate died. His funeral home was handling the arrangements, but the inmate had no family in the area and no money in his estate to cover expenses. Burial costs should have been covered by the Anderson Township Trustee’s Office, but the then-trustee refused to pay.
The dispute dragged on. First one week, then another. Finally a third week passed with the corpse still at the funeral home. May got legal advice, and wanted a court order forcing the trustee’s office to pay for the burial. He told a judge he was willing to bring his case — literally — to court.
The judge didn’t believe him, but agreed to hold a brief hearing during a recess in a murder trial, May said. So, the corpse was loaded onto a stretcher and taken to the courthouse.
“I didn’t have him covered up,” May said. “You could see his face.”
“I thought I was doing the right thing. (The judge) said, ‘This ain’t going to happen any more in this court.’”
“It was a short session in court,” he continued, grinning. “It wasn’t that long.”
Not long after the stunt, Indiana Attorney General’s Office sent a letter to the funeral home, telling him not to bring a corpse to court again. May said the funeral home wasn’t sanctioned, however.
“The judge didn’t believe we would do it,” May said. “But we did. He couldn’t have been surprised, because we told him we were going to do it.
“It shocked a lot of folks,” he continued. “It shocked a lot of folks — whew.”
Even after the corpse’s court appearance — ostensibly to get its own burial — the trustee’s office wouldn’t pay. The burial was covered by money from the Democratic Party and the sheriff’s department.
“The trustee sent flowers.”
L.C. May Funeral Services
2024 Madison Ave., Anderson
Established in 1960
Founder: L.C. May
Home News (ADS ONLY)
October 5, 2008
10:07 p.m.: Open house celebrates L.C. May’s 50 years as licensed funeral director
Family-owned business now run by son
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