DETROIT – A longtime cemetery manager in Metro Detroit is up against the state, which is seeking to shut down his operations due to numerous violations.
Sam Tocco’s cemetery career has spanned more than 20 years. He has either owned or managed five different Metro Detroit cemeteries.
Tocco first came to our attention when we learned dozens of Detroit families said their loved ones’ bodies or headstones were moved or missing from Gethsemane, which Tocco managed for the city of Detroit for several years.
Now, Tocco is on administrative trial regarding a different Detroit cemetery, Trinity Cemetery on the city’s east side. The state said it’s had enough of how the cemetery is run, and wants to force Tocco to sell it.
Tocco paid $300,000 for Trinity Cemetery back in 2017. The state claims he operated the cemetery without state-required registration for four years.
Officials claim that at one point, a man was buried there on top of an unrelated woman’s gravesite. Once the mistake was found by the family, the body was moved, but without a permit -- another violation.
State officials said due to Tocco’s current and past cemetery violations, he lacks integrity and should not be managing Trinity Cemetery.
Tocco’s company also managed Gethsemane Cemetery in Detroit from about 2013 to 2020. Dozens of Detroiters said their loved ones’ bodies or headstones were moved or went missing during the years Tocco’s company was managing the cemetery.
Testimony on Monday, June 17 centered on problems at another Tocco-managed cemetery, Knollwood Memorial Park in Canton Township.
Tocco took over management of Knollwood from his grandfather in 2004. The state claims that hundreds of thousands of dollars were missing from Knollwood accounts in violation of state cemetery law. Tocco blamed his late grandfather for all the problems at Knollwood.
The trial was set to continue Tuesday.