PRESS RELEASE

Klamath County District Attorneys Office

Eve Costello
District Attorney

Dear Community Members,

The Eternal Hills Cemetery issues are emotional, and I know upsetting for many families here in
the community. I have reached out to the Oregon Mortuary, Cemetery Board and the Division of
Financial Regulation to obtain the status of the cemetery.

The State of Oregon has filed involuntary bankruptcy against Eternal Hills Memorial Gardens &
Funeral Home, Inc. in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Eugene, case number 1762784tmr7. The
Oregon Mortuary and Cemetery Board is listed as the petitioning creditor in the bankruptcy. In
previous administrative proceedings, this company and Mr. Bob Gordon himself have been
prohibited from participating in the licensed cemetery/mortuary business practice in the state of
Oregon. The action being taken by the state is the first step towards resolving the ongoing issues
with the cemetery and funeral home. The court has appointed Candace Amborn as the trustee of
the cemetery. She will work to transfer ownership of the cemetery to a responsible and licensed
party who will ensure ongoing maintenance and access to Eternal Hills Cemetery. No transfer of
property or assets can take place without the approval of the trustee and the bankruptcy court.

For historical information regarding the licensing of Eternal Hills and Bob Gordon, see Oregon
Mortuary and Cemetery Boards FAQs at http://www.oregon.gov/MortCem/pages/index.aspx.

We have included information regarding commonly asked questions as well for your benefit.

Q. What is an Endowment Care Cemetery? What is an Endowment Care Fund? Did the
State Freeze the Cemeterys funds?
(Information Provided by the State of Oregon Department of Consumer & Business Services)
Eternal Hills Cemetery is an Endowment Care Cemetery, which means that a percentage of the purchase
price of each cemetery plot is deposited into a trust fund that is managed by a trustee to generate
interest on the principal. As an Endowment Care Cemetery, Eternal Hills Cemetery has an irrevocable
trust fund in place for continued endowment care. Interest paid on the trusted funds can be used to
help pay for the cost of maintenance at the cemetery, although the payout is often not sufficient to
cover all of the expenses, but serves to help pay costs for maintaining the grounds.

Klamath County District Attorneys Office - Press Release 7/14/17 Page 1 of 3

As a matter of historical context and history, the previous owner and company lost their cemetery
license in March 2016 and were no longer authorized to manage or control the cemetery. Since the
owner of the grounds no longer had a cemetery license, he was prohibited from unilaterally requesting a
quarterly payout of the available interest.

However, in an effort to continue the maintenance of the cemetery grounds, the Division of Financial
Regulation (DFR) within the Department of Consumer & Business Services agreed with the trustee that if
the owner submitted an invoice that showed maintenance expenses, DFR would review the request and
authorize the trustee to release the funds to the owner or his payee. This was despite the fact that the
owner was no longer authorized to manage the grounds. Although the owner had the opportunity to
request reimbursement since the cemetery license was revoked in March 2016, funds from the
endowment care trust were not requested until August 2017. At that time, DFR released the funds
available under Oregon Revised Statute 97.830 for the maintenance of the property.

For further information, call DFR at 1-888-877-4897

Q. What is the current status of the cemetery?
The State of Oregon has filed involuntary bankruptcy against Eternal Hills Memorial Gardens &
Funeral Home, Inc. in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Eugene, case number 1762784tmr7. The
Oregon Mortuary and Cemetery Board is listed as the petitioning creditor in the bankruptcy. In
previous administrative proceedings, this company and Mr. Bob Gordon himself have been
prohibited from participating in the licensed cemetery/mortuary business practice in the state of
Oregon. The action being taken by the state is the next step towards resolving the ongoing issues
with the cemetery and funeral home. The court has appointed Candace Amborn as the trustee of
the cemetery. She will work to transfer ownership of the cemetery to a responsible and licensed
party who will ensure ongoing maintenance and access to Eternal Hills Cemetery. No transfer of
property or assets can take place without the approval of the trustee and the bankruptcy court.

Q. What is the Eternal Hills Interment Rights Association?

As far as the OMCB is aware, the Eternal Hills Interment Rights Association is an organization
that is comprised of members that are interment rights holders.
It is important to note that this organization is, in essence, a 3rd party association to which
individuals may become members, but that membership in this association does not in any way
impact those interment rights; a person does not need to be a member of the association to
retain their rights in any way. The association is not an owner of the cemetery itself, to our
knowledge, and is not licensed in any way to operate the cemetery. This entity did apply for
licensure by the OMCB to operate the Eternal Hills cemetery earlier this year, but that
application was denied. As this association is not licensed, OMCB does not have any regulatory
oversight of this entity.

Q. I dont have a copy of my records! What can I do? Who do I contact?

Since Eternal Hills Cemetery is not operating at this time, all physical paper records that were
located on the cemetery grounds have been moved to the OMCB office in Portland. You may
contact another funeral home and ask them to have your arrangements transferred and they will
work with OMCB to acquire your records, then work with you to facilitate the transfer. You may
also contact the OMCB office directly to request a copy.

Klamath County District Attorneys Office - Press Release 7/14/17 Page 2 of 3

Q. What happens to my plot if the cemetery ownership changes?
If the ownership of the cemetery is transferred to any other party, plot ownership will not change.

====================
Issued October 19, 2017

In service,

Eve Costello
Klamath County District Attorney
On

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