* CBS 2…
Illinois State Comptroller Susana Mendoza, who regulates crematories, shut that business down last year, revoking its license.
“It is really disgusting and upsetting to find out that they’re still at it, and I had said back then, these folks will figure out a way to circumvent the system,” she said. “I don’t know how there’s not like a microscope on this entity. You know, the Morgans literally run a house of horrors in their businesses.”
But when it comes to the Morgans’ funeral home, Mendoza said her hands are tied, because funeral homes are regulated by a different state agency.
“We don’t have the authority to, you know, look at what’s going on in their funeral home. That’s not something that we regulate or investigate. That is fully under the purview of the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulations, and we have made it clear to them that these are terrible actors,” Mendoza said on Friday.
The Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation said, while they have the power to revoke funeral directors’ licenses, they do not have jurisdiction over funeral homes.
Mendoza said regulation of funeral homes and crematories should be handled by a single state agency.
* NBC 5…
In a news release sent Friday, the IDFPR said it took “swift action” after learning of the situation at the South Side funeral home, and was working with investigators “to ensure all appropriate regularly and public-safety steps are taken.”
The IDFPR handles the physical operations and professional credentials of funeral homes, Mendoza’s office said. The department also licenses and disciplines funeral directors and embalmers, and investigates operational issues like professional incompetence, vital records noncompliance, or the improper handling of human remains.
In 2024, Morgan’s husband Clark, who previously held a funeral director and embalmer intern license, had his credentials suspended.
In 2025, the Illinois Office of the Comptroller shut down the Morgan’s other business, Heights Crematory in Chicago Heights, after investigators discovered “several improperly stored bodies and hundreds of cremated remains that had never been returned to their families.”
* AP…
Capitol News Illinois reported in 2023 that state regulators allowed a Carlinville funeral director to operate for months despite a complaint filed by a local coroner who found a decomposing body in his funeral home and alleged the care of the remains was “unacceptable and criminal in nature.”
While trying to assist a local family with retrieving cremated remains in March, Morgan County Coroner Marcy Patterson found the unrefrigerated corpse in the embalming room of Heinz Funeral Home. She contacted IDFPR, the state agency that oversees funeral directors, and filed a complaint.
IDFPR took no immediate action against the funeral home director Albert August “Gus” Heinz, allowing him to continue to handle arrangements for grieving and unsuspecting families. It wasn’t until Oct. 5 — days after another local coroner went public with what he found at the funeral home — that Heinz agreed to allow [IDFPR] to revoke his funeral director license. The coroner later filed an affidavit saying Heinz might have misidentified up to 800 human remains.
…Adding… IDFPR…
Our hearts are with the families whose loved ones were affected by the disturbing circumstances uncovered at the South Chicago Chapel funeral home. Every family deserves the assurance that their loved one will be treated with dignity, care, and respect. Any breach of that trust is deeply troubling.
Late Friday, July 31, IDFPR received information about potential operational concerns at the funeral home, prompting IDFPR to open a complaint and conduct an on-site inspection shortly after. As soon as investigators identified evidence of misconduct, IDFPR initiated expedited disciplinary proceedings, suspended Johanna Morgan’s funeral director license earlier this week, and notified law enforcement. On a separate matter in 2024, IDFPR revoked the license of the funeral director’s husband for misconduct.
While IDFPR issues licenses and regulates funeral directors, and does not regulate funeral homes or crematoriums, the Department communicates regularly and promptly with the Illinois Office of the Comptroller, state and local law enforcement, and other local partners to address any form of known misconduct. As evident in this case, once evidence of misconduct by a licensed professional was identified, IDFPR acted swiftly and decisively within our jurisdiction to suspend the funeral director’s license.
We will continue to support law enforcement and local authorities as the investigation proceeds, pursue every regulatory action available under Illinois law, and take any additional action necessary to safeguard the public and uphold the integrity of the profession.
This oversight needs to be consolidated.
- FIREDup! - Monday, Aug 10, 26 @ 9:27 am:
Between this and the ongoing licensing debacle at IDFPR, a change in leadership is desperately needed.
- TNR - Monday, Aug 10, 26 @ 9:35 am:
== The Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation said, while they have the power to revoke funeral directors’ licenses, they do not have jurisdiction over funeral homes. ==
Huh? That’s like the Secretary of State saying they have the power to revoke a drivers license but don’t have any jurisdiction over who drives a car.
- Excitable Boy - Monday, Aug 10, 26 @ 9:49 am:
Aren’t there criminal statutes regarding handling corpses and fraud? Someone needs to be arrested.
- ;) - Monday, Aug 10, 26 @ 10:06 am:
The Director needs to answer some questions.
- Jocko - Monday, Aug 10, 26 @ 10:57 am:
==Why does this keep happening?==
Because an average funeral costs around $8500 and the professional organizations that oversee them (e.g. IFDA, ICFHA) are opaque. I have yet to read a quote from any executive director about this.
- Arsenal - Monday, Aug 10, 26 @ 11:01 am:
==Huh? That’s like the Secretary of State saying they have the power to revoke a drivers license but don’t have any jurisdiction over who drives a car.==
Yes…but it’s not necessarily inaccurate. Authority to regulate the death care industry is weirdly divided in IL.
The reasons this keeps happening: 1) on the government side, there’s only like 3 people who really understand the regulations; 2) on the industry side, there are few people who want to be involved, and a ton of them are just volunteers or legacies; 3) on the voters’ side, no one wants to think about death care very much.
- Frida's Boss - Monday, Aug 10, 26 @ 11:02 am:
Does this funeral home receive Cook County, City, or State funding for indigent or low-income services? I know there’s a fund to handle the burial and disposal of the homeless and those without family or final wills. How much do they receive, if that’s the case?
- Kevie Kev - Monday, Aug 10, 26 @ 11:04 am:
Excitable Boy +1
There needs to be arrests and compensatory and punitive payments to the families.
- BornandRaised - Monday, Aug 10, 26 @ 11:11 am:
@TNR well not exactly. This is the case in plenty of reg environments. Think about hospitals for example…health care workers are licensed by one state agency, while the hospital are regulated by another. Its just the way it is for businesses vs licensed people. In your example it’s law enforcement who enforces even though the state issues a license. The issue here is that there appears to be a chasm between the authority of the different state agencies, and that gap needs to be addressed!!
- The Real Downstate - Monday, Aug 10, 26 @ 11:17 am:
==I have yet to read a quote from any executive director about this.==
The IFDA issued a statement on their Facebook page.
==Authority to regulate the death care industry is weirdly divided in IL.==
I’ll say. Mendoza is right, all these functions should be consolidated within IDFPR, but they will probably need to expand some authority and increase fees to pay for it. Perhaps they should start licensing the homes instead of the directors, if that’s the excuse.
- Flyin' Elvis'-Utah Chapter - Monday, Aug 10, 26 @ 11:26 am:
“who found a decomposing body in his funeral home”
Why anyone would want this in their business is beyond comprehension. Even if you have to dispose of the remains gratis, I mean, a decomposing body.
- Loop Lady - Monday, Aug 10, 26 @ 11:34 am:
It is bizarre…I’ve always wondered how this can happen.
Not to be morbid, but I guess the friends and family of the deceased need to open the coffin to see if their loved one is inside.
Maybe the coffins don’t get buried?
I’m getting cremated…no body left to abuse.
- Friendly Bob Adams - Monday, Aug 10, 26 @ 12:05 pm:
In terms of why this keeps happening, my guess is that these are poorly managed family businesses that gradually slip into chaos. Or perhaps have been inherited by family members with no idea how to run the business.
In terms of the regulatory situation, I would think that county health departments would have some say in the mismanagement of human remains.
- Candy Dogood - Monday, Aug 10, 26 @ 12:30 pm:
===Why does this keep happening?===
Governor Pritzker’s zeal for Governing falls short of the actual day to day management of his agencies and he is relying on agencies managed by incompetent Rauner appointees he has kept in place that don’t believe in regulations in the first place.
DFPR struggles to successfully issue licenses, it would be foolish to believe that they can successfully regulate and inspect complaints that they receive. Governor Pritzker’s CMS has also somehow managed to make the state’s hiring process worse and take longer.
Governors own. I just keep giving him the benefit of the doubt that these failures are being concealed from him and being concealed by his deputy governors, and other members of his immediate staff. I would likewise be unsurprised if these kinds of things were being actively concealed by from his agency directors as well, but the Governor owns.
- Demoralized - Monday, Aug 10, 26 @ 12:37 pm:
== that Heinz agreed to allow==
Agreed to allow? You gotta get someone to agree to allow you to conduct enforcement?
- Excitable Boy - Monday, Aug 10, 26 @ 12:46 pm:
- Governor Pritzker’s CMS has also somehow managed to make the state’s hiring process worse and take longer. -
That’s absolutely farcical. That process is light years better than it was before Pritzker took office.
- NIU Grad - Monday, Aug 10, 26 @ 12:55 pm:
If IDFPR says that changes to statute are needed to give them more teeth, they’ve had over seven years pursue that under this administration.
I know they have many issues over there, but the 2023 situation was a public wake-up call that reforms are needed here. Both IDFPR and the Comptroller’s Office waiving their hands in the air every time and pointing fingers isn’t good enough.
- Rich Miller - Monday, Aug 10, 26 @ 12:58 pm:
===light years better than it was===
Yep.
- Nope. - Monday, Aug 10, 26 @ 12:59 pm:
Let us not forget the criminal convictions related to Burr Oak cemetery and their horrific practices. It should be noted that these funeral directors, funeral homes, and Burr Oak Cemetery specifically, were catering to predominantly African-American clients. The racial component of this cannot be ignored. All three “death adjacent” activities should be regulated by the same agency. Accountability should be swift and certain.
- Eire17 - Monday, Aug 10, 26 @ 1:45 pm:
Not sure I understand the Rauner jab. If you don’t like Rauner fine by me. But the Secretary of DFPR under Rauner was a very intelligent attorney who worked hard. JB didn’t want him.
Every director there is not a Rauner person.
- Anonymous - Monday, Aug 10, 26 @ 1:45 pm:
== Does this funeral home receive Cook County, City, or State funding for indigent or low-income services?==
As far as state funding, they aren’t listed in the public GATA CSFA database.
- Google is Your Friend - Monday, Aug 10, 26 @ 1:48 pm:
The system works as well as the people in it. In the first Tribune story on this incident, they reported that a Chicago Police report said that on Monday, August 3, a complaint was filed about South Chicago Chapel with state regulators (Comptroller or IDFPR unnamed, but presumably IDFPR based on further information in the story). On Wednesday, August 5, the business license for the operator was suspended according to the Tribune’s reporting of the police report. Thursday, August 6, a regulator visited the funeral home with police officers and eventually the Fire Department assisted them to make forced entry.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/08/06/chicgo-funeral-home-bodies-decomposition/
But maybe the failure isn’t IDFPR or the Comptroller, or rather not just them, but a police failure. In the WBBM-TV report, Mendoza claims to have requested a criminal investigation by the Cook County Sheriff earlier this year. The truth is that your average person is not going to have heard of the Comptroller or IDFPR. They will never hear of the magic, perfect consolidated agency some are calling for now. At large police agencies like the Sheriff’s Office or the Chicago Police Department, lots of people would be familiar with agencies intersecting in different ways with death and thus, familiar with IDFPR or the Comptroller’s role. The question is, did Mendoza’s office actually request an investigation by the Sheriff’s Office? If so, what did the Sheriff’s Office do with that request?
- Stephanie Kollmann - Monday, Aug 10, 26 @ 2:01 pm:
Here’s a report from a while back that explains some of the business issues
Tradition, Poverty, Profit Collide In Southern Funeral Home https://share.google/L0ZaxtT4RWoFy3DZI
- Stephanie Kollmann - Monday, Aug 10, 26 @ 2:05 pm:
I think my other comment may be stuck
- Anon - Monday, Aug 10, 26 @ 2:12 pm:
All funeral director and intern licenses expire on May 31st of odd numbered years, which means IDFPR renewed or granted the wife’s funeral director license after their crematory faced issues in 2024. IDFPR has the power to investigate the actions of applicants, including their facilities. There is no excuse for this.
- Ashes to Ashes, Funk to Funky - Monday, Aug 10, 26 @ 2:34 pm:
After I read this post, I saw a newspaper article that the crematorium at Bohemian National Cemetery was also cited for not properly handling remains. It looked like there was a backlog of cremations to be performed and corpses were not properly refrigerated prior to cremation.
Since the decedents are going to be cremated, some of the best practices were not being followed nor were the applicable laws.
Some of these bad practices were reminiscent of the HBO documentary “The Mortician” in a corrupt California funeral director profiteered by advertising inexpensive cremation services while cutting corners, neglecting to maintain proper records, and committing major crimes.
- Give Us Barrabbas - Monday, Aug 10, 26 @ 5:26 pm:
I have told the story here before, but it’s relevant. When my mom passed unexpectedly, we became the victims of an out-of-state Internet based cremation scam. I sent them my money, they took control of my mom‘s remains, and then promptly lost them for almost 5 months. Everywhere I asked, nobody seemed to know where mom was. And the other big problem is, when you are in the middle of handling somebody’s estate on short notice, you need a death certificate, and that comes from the funeral parlor or crematory. Nobody could pin down which Illinois crematory had mom‘s remains. And nobody could get the Colorado and Florida based company to do anything in Illinois. I went to every state agency I could think of, and my congressman and House representatives, got patronizing comments they would solve it but evey one of them threw up their hands and quit. From the Attorney General, to the state police, to the Department of Professional Regulation , to the Secretary of State, e the state funeral home association, nobody could help. It was only because the comptroller has a small branch that handles preplanned, prepaid, burial contracts enforcement, that I found my angel. Mendoza‘s people make constituent services a religion. Their hotline got back to me within an hour of my call, and within two hours, I had somebody in that little bureau start investigating where mom was. Not only did they find her after just a couple of days, they supervised the cremation, and delivered her ashes to my door, with the death certificates. This wasn’t their typical kind of work, but they saw a gap and they stood in the gap for my family. I will be forever grateful to them, but it does point out a theme in this discussion about who should be in charge of monitoring and regulating burials and cremations in the state. It’s a job nobody really asked for or wanted, but for all the families sakes we need to do something about it.
- Kyle Hillman - Monday, Aug 10, 26 @ 5:42 pm:
This case is horrifying and people are right to ask why it keeps happening. But dumping funeral home oversight on IDFPR isn’t the fix.
IDFPR needs to be focused on licensing people, not businesses, Handing them a whole new additional business-licensing function, however it gets funded, pulls focus off that core job.
That means everyone else waiting on a license or a complaint investigation waits longer. Adding another business-regulation mission on top of a professional-licensing agency doesn’t fix funeral home oversight, it just spreads the same overstretched agency thinner. The GA really needs to avoid adding unrelated tasks to agencies - this rarely works.
The real question is who should regulate funeral homes and crematories as businesses (like a new funeral commission), and what’s the wild only in Illinois story on how the Comptroller ended up with part of that job to begin with. But, please don’t start adding new tasks to a licensing department just now climbing out of a backlog.