HOUSTON – The Gamble family mourns the death of their sister, Willie Jean Gamble. The former North Forest ISD educator died earlier this month after a long battle with cancer.
Her sister, Sibbie Curry, describes her as loving, sweet, a Godfearing woman.
“She trusted that her family would do things right for her. We tried our best to do right for her,” Curry said.
Curry feels she hasn’t honored her sister’s wishes with her funeral and burial, after learning a stranger is buried next to their parents instead of Gamble.
“Someone else is sitting in her grave,” she said.
The family shared their disbelief of the incident with KPRC 2′s Rilwan Balogun.
Curry said as the family left the funeral service heading towards the burial, they realized employees at Paradise Funeral Home and Cemeteries were taking them away from their family plot.
When confronted, Curry said the employees seemingly acknowledged the issue.
“‘Get in the car. We’re going to fix it,’” Curry recalls being told. ‘We’re going to fix it.’ But here I am boohooing wanting to know, ‘what’s going on?’” she said. “All I want is answers. Tell me something,” Curry said. “Tell me what can y’all do. What are you going to do?”
It’s not clear what the next steps are for the family. But it’s likely family members for the person buried in the Gamble plot will need to be notified.
Curry said she was told someone with Paradise Funeral Home and Cemeteries would call her Monday to sort things out. In the meantime, Curry said, her sister waits for burial.
“I’m very, very disappointed, and I’m heartbroken. It seems like my heart is already broken because my sister is gone, but it looks like someone just stepped on me and making it worse,” said Curry. “God knows I pray this doesn’t happen to another family. This is heartbreaking.”