Strangers burying strangers: unclaimed dead laid to rest

The ceremony is the culmination of a months-long effort

On a warm day, a few dozen people gathered under a partly cloudy sky in a cemetery overlooking the harbor to see the unclaimed dead off as their mortal remains were interred.

Under the direction of County Coroner George Kelley, 58 sets of remains were interred in Sunset Memorial Park’s columbarium.

“It really doesn’t matter where or how or why these folks ended up in my care,” Kelley said. “Each one of these people had a story.”

With birth dates and death dates ranging across the decades, the staff of the coroner’s office has made it a main effort to connect as many of the sets of remains in their custody with living family members, seeing dozens of remains claimed and rehoused, including one set that was claimed at the end of the ceremony Wednesday.

“We get the privilege to write the final chapter of someone’s life,” Kelley said. “We take that duty and that responsibility very seriously.”

Kelley thanked the hard work of coroner’s office employees, current and past, who worked to research and contact people across continents in an effort to find a final place for the remains. Several religious figures also spoke during the ceremony, before Kelley read the names of the dead.

“My sincerest thanks to all of you for being here to pay our respects for all these folks,” Kelley said. “We will all end up here someday. I hope when we get to that point we will have wonderful people like you here.”

When the ceremony had concluded, cemetery staff transferred the boxes into the crypt designated for them, with Kelley noting it is perhaps the last time the names of these dead will ever be read aloud on this earth.

“Keep these folks in your heart and in your thoughts,” Kelley said in his parting remarks.

Contact Senior Reporter Michael S. Lockett at 757-621-1197 or michael.lockett@thedailyworld.com.

Michael S. Lockett / The Daily World Dozens of unclaimed remains line the table before they’re interred in a crypt on Wednesday in a Hoquiam cemetery.