MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — The Alabama Supreme Court has rejected an elderly north Alabama man's appeal to keep the grave of his late wife in the front yard of the home they shared for decades.

The justices issued a brief order Friday, agreeing with other courts, saying that Patsy Davis' body must be removed from the front yard in Stevenson in 2009.

City attorney Parker Edmiston says work to remove the body could begin next week. He says the remains will be placed in a proper cemetery.

James Davis says he was abiding by his wife's wishes when he buried her outside their home in 2009, yet the city sued to move the body.

A county judge ordered Davis to dig up his wife, and an appeals courts agreed.

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