The funeral industry is usually recession proof. After all, as Arvin Starrett, spokesman for the National Funeral Directors Association, said "The honest-to-goodness truth of the matter is that everybody does die."
So it goes to show how bad the current economic situation has become: a cemetery on Highway 86 in Imperial, California, is in foreclosure!
Annika Mengisen of Freakonomics Blog has the answer to the question I'm sure you're all thinking of: will the ..., um, occupants be evicted? Link
These are too grave of times to be making jokes now!
@Gail Pink: "Well, a cemetary does have a limited amount of land. Maybe it’s “full” and they have no new plots to sell?"
In most cases the cost of a cemetery plot includes a portion that is supposed to go to a long-term maintenance fund that's supposed to keep it afloat; it's not like the Social Security system that depends on more people coming into the system to take care of those that are already in. Most cemetery organizations do a good job of maintaining their finances so that things like this don't happen, but there are exceptions... It shouldn't matter if a cemetery runs out of space and can't sell any more plots; the organization has sold each plot with the promise that the plot will be cared for in perpetuity.