Six months after his death, radio personality Casey Kasem has finally found a resting place.
The former host of “American Top 40” was buried December 16 at Vestre Gravlund, a cemetery in Oslo, Norway, manager of cemetery administration Stein Olav Hohlen told CNN on Tuesday.
But the burial has not calmed a long-running family feud.
“This morning my family and I learned that my Dad’s abusive wife Jean Thompson Kasem and their daughter Liberty conned a cemetery in Norway into burying my Dad there,” his daughter Kerri Kasem said on her Facebook page. “Even with ALL the letters … from my father’s friends and family stating that he wanted to be buried in the UNITED STATES, the country in which he was born and raised, his wishes were, once again, ignored by his unfaithful wife.”
Jean Kasem could not be reached for comment.
Kasem’s adult children from his first marriage and his wife of more than 30 years battled in court in the months before Kasem died June 15 at age 82.
Kerri Kasem was given a conservatorship over her father’s health, which Jean Kasem subsequently fought in court, claiming his children were prematurely ending their father’s life.
Before Kasem’s death, Jean Kasem removed her ailing husband from a care facility in Santa Monica, California, and took him to stay at the home of family friends in Washington state.
After Kasem died, family members complained they didn’t know where the body was located.
Danny Deraney, the publicist for Kerri Kasem, said last summer that Jean Kasem removed her husband’s body from a funeral home in Washington.
On Monday, he said, “Clearly, the family is not happy and they understand that Jean can bury him wherever she wants, even if it is not what Casey wanted. But the kids are at peace knowing that they got their Dad’s final moments.”
Kasem was already a popular disc jockey in Los Angeles when he became the host of “American Top 40” in 1970.
The syndicated show, which counted down the 40 most popular songs in the United States based on Billboard magazine’s Hot 100 music chart, began on just seven radio stations but quickly became a mainstay of thousands, all around the world.
The show inspired imitators, including a television version, “America’s Top 10,” that Kasem hosted.
