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Utah man purchases Perl funeral holdings By Chris Bristol A Utah mortician purchased the Perl funeral group, helping restore the solvency of missing trust funds that authorities said were plundered by the former owner. Mike Leavitt, owner of Leavitt�s Mortuary and Aultorest Memorial Park in Ogden, bought the Medford-based Perl group Tuesday. The group includes the Perl Funeral Home and Siskiyou Memorial Park. Terms of the purchase were not disclosed. Leavitt, whose grandfather founded the family business in the late 1920s, said he made a bid on Perl because the combined mortuary-cemetery setup is the same as his Ogden operation. "It was a good fit," he said Friday. "As for our future plans, we just want to provide the best service we can, one that we believe is superior to what the conglomerates offer." The Perl group was owned by Kern Family Services and operated by David A. Kern, whose business activities came under scrutiny in 1998 after regulators said more than $5 million in prepaid funeral trust funds were missing. In September, a federal bankruptcy judge approved a settlement that protected the accounts of some 3,500 Perl/Kern customers. Meanwhile, David Kern was recently indicted by a local grand jury on multiple charges of racketeering and aggravated theft. The 41-page indictment was unsealed Thursday, when Kern was arraigned before a Jackson County judge. He is scheduled to enter a plea Dec. 4 and remains free on his own recognizance in the meantime. According to court records, Kern is accused of stealing or "misusing" at least $900,000 in funeral trusts. More than 50 trust accounts, many of them held jointly by married couples, are listed victim-by-victim in the indictment. The indictment also alleges that Kern illegally used the trust accounts to buy his house in Medford and underwrite the purchase of Hull & Hull Funeral Home and Hawthorne Memorial Gardens in Grants Pass. Under the bankruptcy agreement, much of the money to pay the missing trust funds was to come from the sale of the Medford and Grants Pass businesses. David Kern�s millionaire father, California mortician Charles Kern, pledged family assets as collateral. The Grants Pass businesses, including the Southern Oregon Cremation Society, remain on the block. A spokesman for the Arizona firm in charge of Kern�s holdings said Leavitt is among several potential buyers. Leavitt said he intends for now to leave Perl�s day-to-day operation in the hands of its Medford staff. The funeral home, at 2100 Siskiyou Boulevard, will host an open house Nov. 18 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2000 Mail Tribune, Inc.