Kalamazoo church collects cremated remains that were left behind or forgotten
KALAMAZOO, Mich. — One church in Kalamazoo made sure that people are not forgotten or left behind in death by collecting cremated remains that were never claimed.
"Every person deserves to be recognized. They lived. They loved. They worked. They deserve to be remembered," said Mother Mary Perrin, rector at the St. Martin of Tours Episcopal Church.
St. Martin of Tours Episcopal Church in Kalamazoo worked with local funeral homes and state medical examiner's office to collect the unclaimed remains.
The church then buries the cremains in a garden during a ceremony where they "claim the unclaimed."
"In God's name, not in the name of our church or our faith or anything, and in God's name we receive them, and respect them, and try to bury them with dignity, to give their life some kind of closure," Mother Mary Perrin said.
Some of the cremains date back to the 1800s.
The names of all the people buried in the church's memorial garden are posted on the church's wall and prayed for twice a year.
The church plans on having another burial in April.
