Tracey Cerney wanted closure.
Her estranged father died April 18, 2006, but she did not know how. She looked online and found a portion of his death certificate, but the online document was missing the information she desperately wanted: the cause of death.
To get the entire certificate, Cerney had to purchase it through a company called VitalChek. On Oct. 29, she ordered the document, charging the $40 fee to her credit card. VitalChek sent her an e-mail confirming her order and estimating the processing time at five days. The company said she should have the death certificate no later than Nov. 2.
It took much longer than that. In January, Cerney still hadn’t received the document, so she tried to contact VitalChek, but could not find a phone number. She called the Illinois Department of Public Health in Springfield, but the agency had no record of her request.
Cerney had almost given up, until she heard the Problem Solver last week on WCKG-FM, 105.9-FM. The radio station encouraged listeners to e-mail the “Stan and Terry Show” with their problems. Cerney was among the first to respond.
Cerney said she hadn’t spoken to her father in almost a decade but was devastated to hear he had died. She had always hoped the two would reconcile, and his death caught her by surprise.
“It was a hard thing to accept,” Cerney said later. “I just want to know what happened to him.”
The Problem Solver made three calls — to VitalChek, the Illinois Department of Public Health and the Cook County clerk’s office. The next day, Cerney had her father’s death certificate, and more arrived later.
Melaney Arnold, a spokeswoman for the Illinois Department of Public Health, said her agency received the request from VitalChek for the document, but it was not fulfilled.
“Honestly, it got lost in the shuffle,” Arnold said. “We’re very, very sorry.”
Arnold said her department receives about 200 records requests via VitalChek each day, but the Department of Public Health is working with an outdated system, meaning problems like Cerney’s can occur. The state is working to update the system, Arnold said.
She promised to send Cerney the death certificate overnight, and it arrived the next morning.
“Now I know what happened,” Cerney said. “That’s all I wanted. I just wanted some closure.”
Later that day, VitalChek spokesman Chuck Jones also responded, and said his company would refund Cerney her $40.
But it didn’t end there. Knowing that the death certificate would also be filed with the Cook County clerk’s office, the Problem Solver initially called there, too, hoping to get a copy of the document to Cerney more quickly.
Although the clerk’s office had nothing to do with Cerney’s problem, it too came through for her, making five certified copies of the death certificate and putting them in the mail to Cerney for free.
Those arrived Saturday.
“That’s OK,” Cerney said after learning more death certificates are on the way. “I’ll have more than one copy. I really appreciate it.”
County and state officials say the easiest way to obtain a death certificate is to apply for one in person. At the Cook County clerk’s office, it takes about an hour to print them. By the end of the year, the agency plans to have its death certificates scanned into its system and available immediately.
To obtain death certificates through the Illinois Department of Public Health, you can order in person, online, through the mail or by fax. For information, visit www.idph.state.il.us.
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THE PROBLEM
Almost a year after she paid VitalChek $40 for a copy of her father’s death certificate, Tracey Cerney still did not have it.
THE SOLUTION
Cerney now has multiple copies.
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HAVE A PROBLEM?
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