Jan 30, 2015 3 min read

A McMurray man who abruptly closed his funeral homes in Claysville and West Alexander in 2013 recently had his professional license revoked.

The Pennsylvania State Board of Funeral Directors fined Michael H. Heinrich $1,000 and revoked his funeral license, effective Jan. 9. The board’s records indicate that Heinrich did not return a balance of nearly $200 to the family of a deceased woman and did not keep records of her funeral in 2012.

Heinrich could not be reached for comment. He owned and operated funeral homes at 219 Main St. in Claysville and 101 Main St. in West Alexander, and both businesses closed in 2013. Shortly after, the properties were foreclosed upon and sold.

According to records, Heinrich provided funeral services for Velma Minteer in May 2012 at a cost of $6,892. She had a remaining balance of $195 in an irrevocable burial trust account at Washington Federal Savings Bank. After the funeral, Heinrich closed the account and had not returned the money to Minteer’s family as of August.

The board indicated that Heinrich ignored multiple calls and certified letters from investigators, but later admitted that he had no records of her funeral. He did not respond to the board’s order or request a hearing.

“Individuals who entrust a funeral director with pre-need funds expect the funeral director to use the funds only in the manner and for the purposes that they have expressed,” the board wrote in its determination. “(Heinrich) disregarded Ms. Minteer’s expectations and breached her trust when he retained the amount remaining in her burial account in excess of the actual cost of her funeral service and goods.”

In an earlier incident, the board cited Heinrich for letting his funeral license lapse for five months in 2000 and continuing to conduct funerals during that time.

Heinrich’s friends and colleagues became concerned about him in March 2013 when he disconnected his Claysville business phone and did not respond to personal text messages and phone calls. Shortly after, he announced he would be closing his Claysville business – the only funeral home in the borough.

“I will not be continuing because of my health,” he said in 2013. “I feel terrible about not being able to put a sign in the window.”

It appeared that his West Alexander funeral home had already been closed for some time. Thomas W. Hummell, of Hummell & Jones Funeral Home on Locust Avenue in Washington, offered to oversee funerals that had been prearranged at Heinrich’s home. Both of Heinrich’s properties were foreclosed on that same month due to $43,998, plus interest, in unpaid mortgages.

The properties were sold through a sheriff’s sale to Richard and Barbara Piatt, who sold them to the current owners, Claudine and David Young. They’ve been operating the Young Funeral Home in Claysville since June, and haven’t yet decided how to use the West Alexander property.

David Young, funeral home manager, said he contacted Heinrich several times while he was owner to express an interest in buying the funeral home, but those inquiries went unanswered. He said he never met Heinrich and did not know why his license had been revoked.

Several of the prepaid services that had been arranged by Heinrich have since transferred into the hands of the Youngs.

Wayne Hoge, a member of the West Alexander Cemetery Board of Directors, said he received no complaints about Heinrich while he was funeral director, but wondered why he closed his business.

“He sort of disappeared, and we had to keep moving along,” he said, “but we had no actual problems as a result of that.”