A Fayette County pastor today requested a zoning variance to avoid being ordered to exhume the remains of his son, who is buried on acreage behind the church.

The Rev. Ewing Marcus Marietta, 43, of South Connellsville, said a church member first suggested the burial site after the pastor's son, Marcus, 18, was killed in June in a traffic crash.

The young man, a multi-sport athlete at Connellsville High School, died July 15, four days after the crash.

Marcus Marietta had just about completed a roundtrip to a football camp at Wake Forest University in North Carolina. He was about five miles away from Liberty Baptist Church, started three years ago by his father, when he crashed around 2:40 a.m. July 11 in Hopwood.

The cause of the crash still is being investigated by state police, as well as a retired trooper hired by the family.

The death has been difficult for the Rev. Marietta, his wife, Amber, and their five other children. Many members of their Southern Baptist congregation also have not overcome the grief, the pastor said.

The idea to bury his son at the church was welcome, the Rev. Marietta said.

However, Fayette County code enforcement officer Lloyd Eicher cited the church on Nov. 6 for violating an ordinance prohibiting unauthorized cemeteries.

In an affidavit filed with the complaint, Mr. Eicher wrote, "After several discussions with the Pastor Ewing, regarding the death of his son, he was told several times that the Fayette County's Zoning Ordinance doesn't permit the burial of human bodies in an area zoned [residential]. Pastor Ewing went ahead and buried his son in the back yard of the Liberty Baptist Church," in violation of the ordinance.

The church could be fined $500 a day for each day of the violation, although the penalty has not been levied so far, the Rev. Marietta said.

By requesting a variance today, a hearing on the violation likely will be postponed from its scheduled date Dec. 7 before District Judge Wendy D. Dennis.

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