RFM delves into the subject of affinity fraud, Mormon style! Unfortunately, some famous and respected names in Mormon leadership got into the act.
RFM shares some personal stories about Mormon affinity fraud, as well, and rounding out the show are some comments from last week’s episode, featuring comments from some members of George W. Pace’s family and former students!
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My wife listened to the Mormon Affinity Fraud episode and shared it with me, since we both had a connection with Deseret Mortuary. We lived in one of the apartments above the mortuary when we were newlyweds. I was in mortuary school and did my internship here. It was a great experience.
I have Some history to share: Deseret Mortuary changed hands several times since its incorporation. Charles Merrill, then to Paul Petersen (whom I was told was not a stand-up guy either), then to the MacKay family (no relation to David O. McKay, note the different spelling). It was sold by the MacKay family in roughly 1990 to publicly traded Security National Financial Corporation (SNFC) of Murray, Utah. Interestingly enough, SNFC is the parent company of Memorial Estates Mortuaries and Cemeteries in the Salt Lake Valley. The very same Memorial Estates referenced in the story. Roughly 15 years ago, Deseret Mortuary closed its doors forever, and the property was sold to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The property at 36 E. 700 S. where the mortuary stood for nearly 100 years, still has yet to be developed. Deseret Mortuary at one time, and at its height, reportedly handled 800-1000 funerals per year. During my time there, we were lucky to handle 300 deaths in one year. The majority being indigent cremations paid for by Salt Lake County. Something of interest I would like to note is that while I was there, I personally handled dozens of funerals where there was no money to pay for the services. These were called DMP’s, Deseret Memorial Plans, where one of the previous owners had absconded with the trust money set aside for the caskets and services (if memory serves, the casket was $350 and services were $350; this was back in the 60’s and 70’s). I was told that when Deseret was purchased by SNFC, The state attorneys office instructed the new owners that they did not have to honor these funeral plans, albeit at a loss. SNFC Took the high-road and chose to honor all of these funeral plans in their entirety. I would imagine there are still some left. Even these many years later.