DAYTON — News Center 7’s I-Team has heard from more families who said they paid for a Dayton business to mark family members’ graves. However, years after their death, they said they still do not have their headstones.
After John Bedell’s initial report on Monday, he’s worked to get answers from the business again today, and got a new perspective about how many families are dealing with this.
When John Buckhalter’s mother passed away in 2015, he went to Stromas Flowers and Monuments for her headstone. He said, “They helped out pretty well. No problem at all.”
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But he’s had a problem since he went back to the business after his sister passed away in the fall of 2021.
“Here we are in 2026, March. I still don’t have a headstone, and I still haven’t heard from anybody,” Buckhalter said.
He said he paid Stromas a little more than $1,700 for his sister’s headstone. But her grave at Jefferson View Cemetery is still unmarked all these years later.
Buckhalter saw News Center 7’s original story on Monday with the Griffin family, who paid Stromas close to $5,500 more than 2 years ago for three headstones they still don’t have.
Rev. Ralph Griffin, III, of Dayton said, “It was an extremely emotional moment for myself. And for my daughters, as well as for services to be paid and not rendered, that we should have to search for her final resting space.”
Buckhalter said, “I feel like I’m not the only one.”
The I-Team reviewed the Ohio Attorney General’s office records that showed when it comes to Stromas Flowers and Monuments, people have filed eight consumer complaints against the business.
Bedell stopped the business on Monday, looking for comment and found a note on the door that said, “Stromas Flowers temporarily closed due to death in the family.”
Bedell called the cell number listed on the note for the second time in as many days on Tuesday and is still waiting for an answer.
Both families that News Center 7 talked to say they want the same thing. They also have the same plan for what they want to do next.
Bedell said Buckhalter and Griffin want either their money back or the headstones they paid for. They also said they plan on adding to the consumer complaints with the Ohio AG’s office.
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