Bernalillo County officials and members of the public gathered Thursday morning to recognize 222 deceased residents as part of its unclaimed indigent cremation program — the highest number since the initiative began in 2012. A ceremony was held at Fairview Memorial Park in Albuquerque where each person’s name was read.
Urns containing ashes from cremations that took place in 2021 and 2022 were placed inside four caskets that had been draped with the official flag of Bernalillo County.
“We’re here to remember those among us who, in death, had no family to claim them, no one to speak their name, no one to stand at their gravesite,” Robert Noblin Jr., the owner of Director’s Choice Mortuary Services, said. “Yet today, we ensure that they’re not forgotten.”
Under the program, a deceased person is classified as indigent when there is no property or assets available to cover the cost of a cremation or burial. The majority of those who were recognized at the ceremony had experienced extreme poverty or homelessness.
Officials said about a third of the names referred to the program come from the Office of the Medical Investigator and the remaining two-thirds from hospice and nursing home workers.
Deputy County Manager Lisa Sedillo-White said most of those recognized in this year’s ceremony had died during the Covid-19 pandemic — which she said was significant — even though the majority had not died from the disease.
“It caused hardships where families have not been able to care for their loved ones,” Sedillo-White said.
Included on the list of 222 were twin brothers Lorne Nigel Allison and Dion Todd Allison, who died nine months apart from each other; mother and daughter Lois Meryl Moscow and Kayla Jade Valentine, who died one month apart from each other; and brother and sister Ronald Bruce Serzynski and Dolores Serzynski, who died two weeks apart from each other in the same nursing home.
Patrick Marquez attended the ceremony to recognize Raymond Montoya who died three years ago. He’d previously assisted Montoya with food and other services.
“I ran into Raymond pulling a suitcase with three wheels. This man was a homeless man. He’d lost hope. He had no family,” Marquez said.
He said while Montoya eventually got a job and secured an apartment, he disappeared for a time. When he resurfaced, Marquez said Montoya had stage four cancer.
“For nine months this man went and got his treatments. He was a soldier, he was a warrior,” Marquez said. “We need to make it better for these people.”
Officials said under the program ashes are stored for up to two years while attempts are made to contact family members. There are more than 350 cases each year.
“The individuals we honor today are not just statistics, they were once part of our community,” Noblin said. “They had lives that were just as important as any of ours, and though they may have faced difficult circumstances in life — poverty, isolation, homelessness — today we remember them as fellow human beings deserving of respect, care and remembrance.”
More information on the program is available here.
Thank you, Damon, for helping us to remember these people and reminding us that everyone deserves the dignity of a service and final resting place. It’s too sad and disturbing that as a nation we can’t do better than a mass grave.