Fairview Memorial Park on Find A Grave lists 1,632 interments with 17 photo requests.
Fairview receiver files to block Berlin’s claim
August 4, 2018
By Glenn Battishill - gbattishill@aimmediamidwest.com
A.C. Strip, a Columbus attorney, was appointed to be the receiver for
Fairview in May 2017 and has been overseeing the cemetery’s affairs and
attempting to find a buyer for the cemetery ever since Delaware County
Judge David M. Gormley ordered that the corporation that controlled the
cemetery be dissolved last fall.
On Monday, Strip filed a motion responding to a July motion filed by
Berlin Township that asked Gormley to give the township the title to the
cemetery and prevent a sale that Strip had been organizing.
In his motion, Strip argues that the court ordered him to resolve the
cemetery’s affairs, and he added Berlin Township only wants the
cemetery after he has “brought order out of total chaos.”
“It is interesting to note that this matter was brought to the
attention of the court and the Receiver named on May 22, 2017, thus the
Township Trustees have been well aware of the receivership,” Strip
wrote. “Only in June and July 2018 (more than a year later) do they come
forward claiming an interest in the proceedings. Now that all the leg
work has been done, the stress incurred, the cemetery orderly and
maintained, all victims notified and dealt with, does a third party step
in and wish to be handed the cemetery property.”
Strip also opposed the township’s motion, because he said it would be unfair to the victims affected by the cemetery.
Strip also opposed the township’s motion, because he said it would be unfair to the victims affected by the cemetery.
“Should the Court consider the demand of the Township Trustees, it
would leave all of the victims without any regress or likelihood of any
recompense,” Strip wrote. “Fairness dictates that the obligation of the
Receiver (and perhaps the goal of the Court) is to provide as much
distribution to victims as possible.”
Strip said his potential sale of an 8.32-acre parcel of the cemetery
to the Islamic Society of Central Ohio would have yield a profit of
$130,000, which would lead to some compensation of the victims.
Strip also opposed the motion on the grounds that giving Berlin
Township the cemetery would not result in proper compensation for him
and his team who have managed the cemetery.
“The Receiver has expended an inordinate amount of time, effort,
incurred stress and strain, had weekends, vacations and holidays
interrupted with ‘cemetery business’ and has brought order out of total
chaos,” Strip said. “…yet, the trustees, in their responses, make no
mention of any compensation for services having been rendered. Certainly
the Court, the public and the victims have benefited from the
receiver’s activities and they shouldn’t go unnoticed or unrewarded.”
Strip concludes by asking for an oral hearing to be set in the case.
A hearing had not been set by Friday.
The previous owners of the cemetery, Theodore and Arminda Martin, are
currently serving prison terms after pleading guilty to multiple counts
of theft for selling items at the cemetery but never delivering or
ordering them."
