State revokes five funeral-home inspection certificates after hearing on unattended remains and record gaps

The Department of Public Health licensing board voted Nov. 3, 2025 to revoke the inspection certificates for five funeral-home locations associated with Philip M. Pietrus after the respondent failed to appear and the department established service of notice.

Department attorneys told the board that Pietrus had been previously found to have taken payments for funeral contracts without depositing funds into required escrow accounts, and that inspections and post-eviction walkthroughs found remains and incomplete records at multiple locations. "The Department respectfully moves to deem all allegations admitted in each of the matters noticed for today's hearings," Department staff attorney Julianne Cataya said during the hearing.

Special investigator James Moore testified that during an inspection of the Rockville location in June 2024 he observed nine decedents in a prep room with incomplete documentation, including missing cremation permits and death certificates. Moore said later walkthroughs of multiple locations after eviction proceedings found cremated remains, urns and boxed remains left behind and filing cabinets containing documents; he also testified that the recovered cremated remains are now in departmental custody. "We observed several cremated remains in various boxes," Moore said, describing the post‑eviction condition of at least one site.

The department presented exhibit packets for each petition and told the board that the respondent did not file answers or appear for the hearing despite multiple attempts at notification by email, certified mail and regular mail. Nathaniel Gordon, the board liaison, testified that notices were sent to addresses of record and that links for the MS Teams hearing had been provided; based on that testimony the board found service and notice sufficient and granted the department's motion to deem the allegations admitted.

In closing, attorney Aiden Baum asked the board to revoke the inspection certificates and consider statutory penalties under Connecticut law for the violations the department described. The board moved, seconded and voted by voice to revoke the certificates for the five locations noticed for the hearing: Angels Memorial (inspection certificate no. 707), Coventry/Pietrus (inspection certificate no. 644), Burke Fortin Funeral Home (license/inspection no. 655), Small & Pietrus (inspection certificate no. 625) and Tolland Memorial (inspection certificate no. 656). The board limited its action to the five petition numbers noticed for the day and did not revoke licenses or certificates not before it in these petitions.

Board members discussed civil penalties but declined to add a monetary fine at the hearing, noting the locations were closed and that collection of fines appeared impracticable; one member said further petitions related to other licenses could be heard at a later date if brought to the board. The department requested that the board consider statutory remedies available under Conn. Gen. Stat. §23-33 in determining discipline.

Other formal actions on the record during the same meeting included approval of the Sept. 9, 2025 minutes; adoption of a memorandum of decision related to the respondent; and a separate vote to allow a Mr. Kalinowski to resume duties as an embalmer practical examiner in Connecticut. The meeting concluded after a motion to adjourn carried by voice vote.

The decisions revoke the inspection certificates that allowed the named facilities to operate pending any separate or future proceedings on other licenses, petitions or appeals. The department indicated it will take custody of remains found at the sites and pursue any further administrative actions it deems appropriate under the statutes and regulations cited at the hearing.