Angus handyman Dave Thomson watched in horror as his wife Erika dropped dead in front of him.
Her sudden death from a brain aneurism in 1996 devastated the Forfar family and ultimately led to the suicide of Mr Thomson’s son Paul last year.
Mourners gathered at Rescobie Church to see the 30-year-old laid to rest at his mother’s side. However, the undertaker did not turn up with the ashes and only appeared, in a private family car, after frantic calls from the minister.
Having already paid around £1,000 to Alexander Bain Funeral Directors, in Forfar, run by Co-operative Funeral Care, Mr Thomson, 61, refused to pay the remaining £2,500.
The firm initially offered a reduction which Mr Thomson claimed was £400 but, after the offer was declined, opted to pursue him for the full amount.
“The council had already opened up the grave when we arrived around quarter to 10, and the minister was standing there waiting for them to turn up,” Mr Thomson said.
“We waited and waited and then the minister started to make phone calls. They got a guy who said he didn’t know anything about it. He was the one who picked up the ashes in the casket and brought them in his own family car.”
Mr Thomson, a worker at Drumtochty Castle, near Laurencekirk, marked the 17th anniversary of Erika’s death on Wednesday.
He was with her when she suddenly dropped to the ground and died while Paul, aged just 13 at the time, was at school.
The interment at Rescobie saw Paul’s ashes put beside his mother two weeks on from a cremation at Parkgrove, Friockheim, handled by the same undertaker.
Mr Thomson, who now has a home in Fettercairn, claimed the Co-operative only issued a letter of apology after his solicitor made contact.
The firm has raised a small claims action against him at Stonehaven Sheriff Court.
A company spokesman said: “Regrettably the interment of ashes… was delayed by 45 minutes because our representative failed to attend at the arranged time. An apology was made at the time.
“In the next few days staff made several attempts to contact the family and offered to meet with them in order to fully explain the reason for the delay and to offer a formal apology.
“…We would encourage the family to discuss the matter with us to avert proceedings.”