Six years after the owners of Honolulu Memorial Park filed for bankruptcy, squabbles between factions vying for control have left the Nu'uanu cemetery in disarray, with no state license to sell additional plots or niches and no maintenance funds or strategy to repair its landmark pagoda and temple, both of which are closed for safety reasons.

Frustrated with the situation and seeing no end in sight, at least 50 families have abandoned their plots and niches in the last six months alone, taking the remains of their loved ones elsewhere, park manager Richard Sherlock said.

Cemetery officials were not able to provide a total on the number of plots or niches emptied since 2001. But they acknowledged the problem.

"I think we've always tried to work toward getting the park back on track, but it has been a struggle," said Bruce Matsui, outgoing president and director of the Honolulu Memorial Park Association, which represents plot and niche owners and oversees the cemetery's perpetual care fund.

For plot and niche owners, the series of legal battles surrounding Honolulu Memorial Park and its 116-foot-tall pagoda are as confusing as the complicated ownership of the cemetery and its perpetual fund.

And at a meeting of owners Thursday night, the first association membership gathering in six years, that confusion quickly turned to anger.

"I wish we could just get out of there and buy a place (plot) somewhere else," Geraldine York, whose grandparents' remains are inurned at the cemetery, said after leaving the meeting early in disgust.

"It's so disorganized."

James Nekota, who has seven family members at the cemetery, said the situation is unconscionable. "The pagoda is falling apart," he said.

It is still unclear how Honolulu Memorial Park got into such financial straits, but by the time the Richards brothers — former majority owners of the cemetery — filed for bankruptcy in 2001, its perpetual care fund was down to its $1 million principal, which cannot be touched under the bylaws of the association.

At the time, the Richards brothers said it would take more than $1 million to repair and reopen the cemetery's 39-year-old pagoda, a replica of the Sanju Pagoda in Nara, Japan. The pagoda holds the remains of hundreds of people. In all, some 7,000 people are buried or interred at the park.

The brothers have since turned over their ownership in the cemetery to Kyoto Gardens Park, a nonprofit entity responsible for fundraising.

The move spurred a lawsuit between the nonprofit's directors — businessman Vic Hejmadi and City Councilman Rod Tam — and five niche and plot owners affiliated with the nonprofit Friends of Honolulu Memorial Park. The niche and plot owners said they were the rightful directors of Kyoto Gardens Park, since the two nonprofits had joined forces.

But a Circuit Court judge ruled against the Friends of Honolulu Memorial, essentially giving Kyoto Gardens majority ownership in the park.

Tam stepped down from Kyoto Gardens last year amid questions over his involvement. But Hejmadi, a Buddhist, says he will stick with it.

In an interview last week, Hejmadi said the pagoda remains in bad shape and is getting worse. He also said the park is no closer to getting a state license, which would again allow it to sell plots and niches.

Matsui disputes the claim, saying the park is on track to get back its license, which expired in December 1999.

He said to get the license, the association is going through an audit and considering the use of corporate trustees — a motion voted down at the Thursday meeting, during which Matsui was also voted off the board.

He was the only board member attempting to keep his seat.

Hejmadi said the real problem yet to be tackled is the perpetual care fund, which the association controls. He said the million-dollar fund should have been better invested over the last six years.

The interest and revenue from the fund are supposed to cover maintenance and operations at the cemetery. But at the Thursday meeting, Matsui said the fund earned only about $129,000 between June 2001 and December 2006.

He defended the return, saying it was invested conservatively as a precaution. But Hejmadi, whose nonprofit is responsible for the day-to-day care of the park, also said it has been difficult to get reimbursements for park expenses, which the association is responsible for covering.

Seven months ago, Hejmadi hired Sherlock as a groundskeeper at the cemetery. In January, he became park manager and operates the office.

But so far, Sherlock has received only $4,000 from the association for his work. Hejmadi said he also pays Sherlock out of his own pocket.

Sherlock said he stays on because he hopes the situation will improve, and he wants to help the plot and niche owners, many of whom are seniors.

In addition to mowing grass and taking care of other maintenance concerns at the park, Sherlock helps families who want to take the remains of their loved ones to other cemeteries or Buddhist temples.

He said many families have removed ancestral remains from the Kinkaku-ji Temple, which is closed to the public. The temple has termite damage, no electricity and is often targeted by vandals.

Other families abandoned whole plots, which can hold the remains of several family members. "A lot of people have taken them out because they were afraid of what was going to happen," Sherlock said.

Though the cemetery is still run-down, some plot owners say Sherlock's presence makes a difference and has persuaded them to keep their ancestral remains there — at least for a little longer.

They say they still hope things will get better.

Sherlock runs the office Monday to Saturday. He has a worker who can do monument engravings, and his son helps mow the grass.

Howard Shima, an 80-year-old Salt Lake resident and niche owner, said despite the state of the cemetery, he is still optimistic it can be made beautiful again. He was voted onto the association board Thursday.

"There are plenty of people who want to resurrect the park," he said. "They're keeping a focus on the matters at hand."

Reach Mary Vorsino at mvorsino@honoluluadvertiser.com.