ASTON TWP., Pa. (WPVI) — A grieving family reached out to the Action News Troubleshooters when they couldn’t get the gravestone they had paid for to mark the final resting place of their loved one.
The family of Victor Kushto said he was a devoted husband, a father, and a firefighter.
They told the Troubleshooters that he worked hard his entire life to serve them and his community.
So, Action News was honored to help them finally fulfill his last wishes.
“This is our song, better have a dance before we cut the cake,” said Sandra Kushto in a video dancing with her husband Victor during their Golden Wedding Anniversary celebration.
“And I play that three or four times a day just to hear his voice,” she said.
“We were married 50 years, and the next day he went to the hospital and passed away five days later,” she said.
Sandra recalled how Victor was a longtime volunteer firefighter and later became Chief of Reliance Hook and Ladder Company in Delaware County.
But while he did receive a proper funeral, the family hit roadblocks after ordering his gravesite headstone.
“This is ungodly hard,” said Sandra. “It’s hard enough burying somebody, then to go through all this hassle.”
A few months after his passing in July 2024, Sandra said she paid Griffith-Alberici Brothers in Aston more than $10,000 for her husband’s headstone.
As they waited for it to be delivered, the family made do with a makeshift memorial.
“A plastic fireman’s helmet and we wrote his name and his nickname on it and we put it there,” said Vicky Kushto, the couple’s daughter. “But otherwise, there was nothing to mark that that was his grave.”
The family said a year passed and Victor’s gravesite still said no headstone.
“I haven’t been able to grieve yet, trying to get this taken care of I can’t get any closure,” added Sandra.
What’s more, Sandra said, when she called Griffith-Alberici Brothers, she heard only excuses.
“At first, it was coming from out of the country, so it was delayed in customs,” she said. “It was stuck under the tariffs. At one point, he had surgery. The excuses were non-stop.”
So, Vicky said she contacted the Action News Troubleshooters and Call for Action to help her mom find peace.
“And we found out after the fact that the stone wasn’t even ordered until October 1st of 2025,” said Vicky.
That was 13 months after the Kushtos had paid for the stone upfront and in-full.
And only after our Call for Action volunteer, Lulu, called Griffith-Alberici Brothers was it finally ordered, delivered and installed on Christmas Eve.
“We would not have gotten this done without her,” said Vicky. “She stayed on it. She contacted me almost every week to give me update sand she went above and beyond.”
The Troubleshooters did ask Griffith-Alberici Brothers to explain the delay.
The company sent us a one-sentence statement that says simply, “The complaint was resolved, and the memorial was installed Dec. 24, 2025.”
If you have an issue you need help getting resolved, please contact our Call for Action Team at 1-866-978-4232
Our CFA volunteers take calls Monday through Friday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
You can also contact us anytime online by going to 6abc.com/Troubleshooters.
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