Grandmother finally allowed burial in church cemetery after pastor blocked body for months over tithes
Two months after a Virginia church refused to allow the family of a beloved grandmother to bury her remains in the cemetery of the church where she served the majority of her life due to an alleged dispute over tithing, the family is now celebrating after the church relented and allowed her burial in the cemetery on Friday.
“Till we meet again ‘grams.’ Her dying wish was granted. She’s back home with her loved ones. Now the healing process begins,” wrote Jalen Hunt last Friday on Facebook after his late grandmother, 82-year-old Alice Mae Garrison, who died on Aug. 30, was buried in the cemetery of First Baptist Church Hollins, which is led by the Rev. Harvey Saunders.
“On behalf of my family and myself, we would like to thank everyone who prayed and supported us during our time of bereavement. Continue to pray for us!” he said.
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“After a long two months, I’m happy to announce that on Friday, November 10, 2023, our Mother, Grandmother, and Matriarch, was finally laid to rest in her home cemetery (Hollins) in Roanoke, VA. We, the Garrison family, cannot thank you enough for the outpouring of love and support that you have shown our family, from all corners of the Earth. Please accept our heartfelt gratitude. Blessings to you all,” Alycia Garrison wrote on Saturday about her grandmother’s long awaited burial on Facebook.
Garrison’s daughter and co-caregiver, Kathy Garrison, also thanked everyone who helped ensure her mother could rest in peace.
“Mom is resting in her beloved Hollins Community where she had one telephone number, one address, and one place of worship her entire life,” she wrote in a statement on Facebook.
“We are so proud to say that to every encouraging person either by text, visit, or phone call and especially every prayer was so inspirational all the way to mom’s final resting place. I am so pleased to announce that this opportunity has brought out the very best in every one of you towards us,” she added. “Your acts of kindness are unforgettable and we will forever love you for all the sweet things you have done for us. … Truly you were our Mama’s friend and any friend of hers is a friend of ours.”
In September, after the family went public with their dispute to honor their beloved matriarch’s dying wish, thousands of people joined in an online protest to lobby the church to allow the burial.
The Rev. Harvey Saunders claimed that the grandmother, “affectionately known as “Sallie,”” was removed from the church’s membership roll because she had stopped attending church and was no longer tithing.
Her family members told The Roanoke Times in September that she had been sidelined by health issues in the last seven years but still found time to send donations to the church whenever she could.
“It is crucial to highlight that our beloved mother's absence from regular church attendance was not by choice but due to her failing health. She longed to attend services regularly, but physical limitations prevented it,” Alycia Garrison wrote in a change.org petition that was signed by more than 14,778 people supporting her grandmother’s burial.
“We firmly believe that it is an injustice and a gross act of discrimination that a religious institution has denied its member the right of burial. Her entire family that preceded her in death is buried in the cemetery. Only five months ago her beloved sister was buried there,” Alycia Garrison said in September. “Our beloved mother’s unwavering faithfulness and dutifulness to her church throughout the decades has ended in utter and shear disrespect rendered by the attending church pastor.”
Responding to question from The Christian Post about the burial on Monday, Alycia Garrison said, “the healing can finally begin.”
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