Funeral homes facing strikes vandalized overnight

Less than 48 hours before employees of four suburban funeral homes were set to go on strike, three of the four places of work were vandalized, according to the company that owns the homes.

Vandals hit the Lauterburg-Oehler Funeral Home in Arlington Heights, the Oehler Funeral Home in Des Plaines and the Weinstein Funeral Home in Wilmette sometime between Sunday night and early Monday morning, said Service Corp. International spokeswoman Jessica McDunn.

Collectively the damage consisted of shattered windows, “profane” graffiti sprayed on at least one building, damage to a front door and shattered windows on an employee’s vehicle, said SCI spokeswoman Lisa Marshall.

Members of Teamsters Local 727 who work at four SCI funeral homes, three of which were damaged, plan on striking Tuesday morning, but deny any involvement in the vandalism.

“We don’t know anything about that. We don’t condone that kind of behavior,” said Maggie Jenkins, communications director for the union. “It is a strange coincidence to be sure.”

Sixteen union members will go on strike starting at 10 a.m. today following a nearly two month labor dispute.

“I’m not suggesting they did this to themselves, but the finger should not be pointed at the union,” Jenkins said.

SCI spokespeople said the company does not know if the vandalism was related to the strike, but acknowledged the coincidence of the timing.

“I would not speculate on who did this, but I can tell you we didn’t damage our own property,” Marshall said. “Coincidences happen, but it did happen overnight last night and the strike is set for tomorrow.”

An Arlington Heights police official confirmed a vandalism report was filed Monday for a rock being thrown through the Lauterburg-Oehler Funeral Home, but Des Plaines and Wilmette police could not comment on reports in their towns.

Marshall said workers power washed the spray-painted graffiti off a brick portion of one of the funeral homes Monday morning, painted over graffiti sprayed on wood and had glass replaced.

“We don’t have an estimate of the damage, but are expecting it to be quite a bit,” McDunn said Monday afternoon.

There was no damage to the inside of any of the funeral homes, according to the company.

The funeral homes are bringing in additional help during the strike and will continue to operate as usual, according to SCI.

Houston-based Service Corp. International, which owns the four homes, operates more than 1,400 funeral homes and 380 cemeteries in North America.