Westmoreland coroner's office plans funeral for unclaimed remains of deceased veterans

The cremated remains of 15 veterans discovered in storage at the Westmoreland County Coroner’s office — some for as long as 29 years — will have a formal memorial service in July before being laid to rest with full military honors, Coroner Tim Carson said.

The memorial service will be 10 a.m. July 15 at the Scottdale War Memorial before the remains are escorted in a procession to the National Cemetery of the Alleghenies in Washington County for a full military funeral at 1 p.m., Carson said Wednesday.

“I know from experience the people of Westmoreland County take care of their veterans. We must give these veterans the respect they deserve while honoring them for their service to their country,” Carson said.

The memorial project began in January when Carson took over as coroner and was shown a storage room at the Hempfield office, where boxes contained the cremated remains of 57 people.

Over the past five months, Carson and the coroner’s staff have been working with Clyde “Tex” Taylor of the Missing In America nonprofit group, which works to identify and inter the unclaimed cremated remains of American veterans.

“First off, I want to be clear that there is nothing illegal with storing unclaimed, cremated remains in that manner, and some coroners do it,” Carson said.

However, he said, he felt it was a “disgrace” to keep the remains on a cement floor of a storage room.

“These veterans served our country and deserve more than sitting in an evidence room. We can never repay our veterans for the sacrifices they have made, but what we can do is give them a proper final resting place,” Carson said.

He inquired with the state coroner’s association and the local veterans office, which got him in contact with the Missing in America Project to determine whether any of the remains were veterans.

Then began a tedious project by the nonprofit to identify the remains.

“Since February, they were able to identify 15 as veterans,” Carson said.

Former Coroner Ken Bacha said the unclaimed remains were there for various reasons, perhaps because next of kin could not be located or did not want to take on the financial obligations of a burial.

Bacha said the remains were kept in a locked area, and anyone who claimed them would have had to pay the county’s cremation expenses.

“There was a cost, an obligation, to the county that has to be paid before they (cremains) are released,” Bacha said.

Jim Drnjevich of Trafford, vice commander of District 31 of the American Legion — which includes Westmoreland County — said he supports Carson’s effort to honor the veterans.

“I’m glad to see the coroner’s office took on this project,” he said.

Pantalone Funeral Home in Greensburg will take possession of the remains until the July 15 services, Carson said.

He is working with Stone & Co. in Hempfield and an area technical school on plans to construct a small mausoleum-type space to house the other remains, plus any similar cases handled by the office in the future.