Jim Davis stands by the grave of his wife in the yard of their house in Stevenson, Alabama, July 16, 2012. (Photo : Reuters)
The husband of an Alabama woman whose final request was to be buried in her front yard lost a long-winded fight with the state to preserve her spot there.
Family members gathered around 73-year-old James Davis' front garden, weeping as the body of his late wife Patsy was extracted from their home in Stevenson, Ala. according to the
Beatrice Daily Sun.
Davis told the
Sun that he'd sworn to his wife that he would bury her body outside of their log house in the northeast city. When she died in April 2009, the Stevenson City Council turned down his petition for a cemetery permit, but he put Patsy's remains underground, just a few feet from the front porch of their two-story home.
The city sued Davis for his actions and ultimately won in the legal conflict - a judge arranged for the body to be taken out this week.
As the coffin holding Patsy's body was lifted from the ground, tears rolled down the cheeks of one of the Davis daughters. James Davis, standing a few feet away, watched the extraction in silence, while other family members, a sheriff and a deputy who were present, watched.
Davis said that the removal was "a travesty." "This never should have happened," Davis told the
Sun. "I broke no laws."
James, who was married to Patsy for 48 years, stated that he will have her remains cremated, and keep them in an urn in the home.