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When Lincoln County District Court Judge John Murphy approved the sale of Floral Lawns Memorial Gardens cemetery in March, it seemed as though the legal turmoil that had surrounded the final resting place of thousands of North Platte residents was near an end.

It was not. The sale did not go through and on Nov. 10 Bruce Becker, the legal owner of the property, moved for the court to allow him to retake possession of the cemetery as well as Nebraska Memorials, a business at 920 Rodeo Road.

Floral Lawns has been held by attorney Richard Birch since 2004, when Murphy appointed him receiver.

Becker said in the motion that there was no longer a need for a receiver and that he should be allowed to retake control over the day-to-day operations of the cemetery.

Linda J. Becker, Bruce’s ex-wife and co-defendant in the case, filed an objection in district court Monday over Bruce’s motion to take possession of the “property and proceeds in the Receiver’s hands.”

Linda’s attorney, P. Stephen Potter, stated in the objection that Birch, as receiver, has not completed his final report and that Bruce has been uncooperative with Birch in regard to answering subpoenas for account records.

The objection also claimed that until Bruce turns over the records and the property is sold, no final accounting could be determined.

The document said that Linda “feels that the cemetery might lose assets if defendant, Bruce C. Becker, is allowed access to the cemetery property and any of the assets of Floral Lawns.”

It also pointed out that Bruce’s license to operate a business to sell monuments and markers was suspended by the Department of Insurance.

The history

Bruce Becker, the legal owner of the cemetery, was banned by court order in 2004 from conducting any business at the cemetery and eventually banned from the premises all together.

In 2007, Lincoln County District Judge John Murphy ordered that Floral Lawns be sold. Murphy could split the sale price and award it to Bruce Becker and his ex-wife or use the money to pay for legal expenses incurred by the long court case or refund the cemetery association’s trust fund.

Either way, the long and sad saga of the cemetery may finally be coming to an end.

In 2004, Lincoln County District Judge John Murphy ruled that the cemetery’s assets were so entangled with Becker’s personal finances that was impossible to sort them all out.

Murphy appointed North Platte attorney Richard Birch as the receiver. He asked Mike Montgomery of Adams and Swanson Funeral Home to take over the cemetery and run it. Montgomery has done just that, free of charge, for four years.

Floral Lawns, located on Dodge Hill south of North Platte, has been in existence since 1954 and is the final resting place of thousands of area residents.

The cemetery, owned by the Floral Lawns Memorial Gardens Association, has been in Becker’s family for 50 years. It was established in approximately 1954 and sold to Becker’s parents in the late 1950s. They operated the cemetery until the late 1970s, when it was transferred to their son, Bruce.

Concerns about the cemetery’s financial management came to light after Linda Becker filed for divorce from Bruce Becker in 2001. As P. Stephen Potter, Linda Becker’s divorce attorney, began combing through the couple’s assets, he discovered the tangled mess that was their personal and business finances all mixed together.

Among other properties, the ownership of several properties – located at 202 Tepee in Indian Hills in Lincoln County and at 494 Political Hill in Lakeside, Mont. – were questioned. The court eventually awarded Linda Becker the Montana home and Bruce Becker the home on Tepee.

Birch reported that the cemetery’s finances were in a mess. He reported that Becker operated the cemetery as his “private fiefdom with scant regard for the nature of it as a corporate entity.”

Birch charged in 2004 that Becker concealed assets and income of the cemetery in the past and continued to do so. He said the cemetery was in danger of disintegrating.

Birch listed instances where private homes and personal loans to Becker family members were financed by the cemetery.

“Mr. Becker has an accounting system for the cemetery association that can best be described as archaic and loose,” Birch wrote in his report to the court. “Whether intentional or not, it has also made for a very confusing situation. I feel like the more I learn about how Mr. Becker runs the business, the less I understand.”

Birch said records of Floral Lawns’ corporate meetings were as scarce as records of association members, officers, directors or trustees. He said records were non-existent or poorly inscribed on index cards.

In November 2004, the Nebraska Department of Insurance revoked the cemetery’s license to sell pre-need contracts. The cemetery lost its license as well.

Keri Schechinger, DOI staff counsel, said an investigation into the cemetery’s finances began in June 2002, lasted 29 months and involved unaccounted-for funds in the trust accounts.

In all instances, according to the petition, Becker failed to indicate that the money received for the service would be placed into a trust fund.

The petition said Becker was in violation of the Burial Pre-Need Sales Act and that he “knowingly and without the exercise of due care” violated the law.

Bruce Becker eventually had to refrain from conducting any business at Nebraska Memorials until the cemetery matters were resolved, according to his motion. He was also ordered not to enter the grounds of the cemetery.