Woman may lose husband's memorial bench after Long Beach says she owes thousands

LONG BEACH, Calif. - A local family said they were shocked when the city of Long Beach told them they would need to pay thousands of dollars to keep a memorial bench they purchased to memorialize their loved one.

Lori Diane Edmonds regularly visits the Alamitos Bay Marina, to pay respects to her late husband, Michael Edmonds, at the memorial bench the family had paid to erect in his honor. Michael Edmonds died 19 years ago from complications after a surfing accident. Lori figured the best way to honor him would be with the bench.

"I called the city, and that's how we started with this bench," she said. "They said it was going to cost a certain amount of money, and you'll have this bench, and you could have this plaque made. And that's exactly what we had done."

The plaque on a Long Beach memorial bench honoring Michael Edmonds

Lori said she was told the bench and plaque would be a one-time fee, so she was shocked when the city of Long Beach notified her that she would need to pay $6,000 to continue leasing the land where the bench is located. 

"I thought when I purchased this bench, I was going to have it forever," Lori said. "Just if you go to a cemetery, you make all the arrangements and then you don't ever have to pay extra money."

"I think this is wrong," said Trisha Skubic, Lori's daughter. "I just don't understand how the city could, after this amount of time, try to change the dynamics of what my mom agreed upon over 19 years ago."

FOX 11 reached out to the city of Long Beach. Partners of Parks responded to FOX 11's request for comment, saying:

Partners of Parks is a non-profit organization that supports Long Beach Parks, Recreation, and Marine facilities and programs through strategic funding partnerships that benefit youth, seniors, and families in need. Proceeds of the tribute bench program benefit low-income families by providing scholarships to park programs, classes and camps for youth ages 3-18 as well as providing grocery gift cards to low-income seniors. Partners of Parks works in partnership with the City of Long Beach to fulfill unmet funding gaps for parks.

When a family purchases a memorial bench, they are leasing a space on city property for a specified period. The term is 10 years. If the family would provide an agreement noting the bench placement in perpetuity, we would honor that. We have no documentation as such. The Edmonds family owns their bench outright; however, they do not own the space where the bench resides.

We have had several conversations with the Edmonds family offering them a number options, the first being renewal. This process renews a family's lease of the city-owned waterfront space, at rate of 50% of the current listed price for waterfront benches for a term of 10 years. The current listed price for a waterfront bench is $12,000. The renewal fee for this bench is $6,000. The second option is to have the bench relocated to the family's private property. The third option is to do nothing. The bench will only be removed or relocated if the family chooses to relocate it, if it becomes a safety hazard, or if a new bench donor identifies that particular space for a future tribute bench.

We have had a number of families opt for the renewal option as they wish to keep their benches in place in their current location on city property. We are simply trying to apply the process consistently across the community, as that is our role. All funds raised help benefit our entire community. That is our mission.

Lori Diane Edmonds and Michael Edmonds

Skubic, though, said it should be up to the city to provide the documentation.

"I'd like them to provide us documentation that states that it wasn't a lifetime agreement, because what we paid back then was a substantial amount of money for the bench and for the memorial plaque," she said.

"This is taking more than just a bench away," Lori said. "It's taking a place for someone that we love so much, where we can't go and honor him anymore."

The family is raising money to help pay for the bench. Information on that fundraiser can be found by tapping or clicking here.