[or-roots] Oregon State Hospital unites families with cremated remains of deceased patients

[Sue Steward]

We went through this process a couple of years ago when there were some 
news stories about it.  I remembered hearing something about the husband 
of my husband's great aunt having been in the state hospital and checked 
and found out that the cremains were still there.  In completing the 
paperwork, we found that his brother's cremains were also there but we 
had no relationship to the brother.  So we connected with other family 
and they claimed the remains of the brother.   We set a date to get 
together with all the relatives that we could and interred the cremains 
in a family area of a cemetery in Coos County and purchased and set 
headstones for the two.  In the process discovered that the mother had a 
beautiful headstone but that the father and sister did not.  Robyn 
Greenlund found that the father was eligible for a veteran's headstone 
and ordered that and the group of relatives bought another headstone for 
the sister.  So now all family members buried there have stones to mark 
their graves.  It was a very rewarding experience to know they had been 
brought home to rest.

Sue Steward


On 2/2/2011 10:05 AM, Carol Peterson wrote:
> http://www.oregon.gov/DHS/mentalhealth/osh/cremains.shtml
>
> Oregon State Hospital unites families with cremated remains 
> of deceased patients
>
> While the Oregon State Hospital has made enormous strides toward 
> improving the care and treatment of the patients of today, there is 
> unfinished work in honoring patients of previous generations.
>
> The Oregon State Hospital is the custodian of the cremated remains of 
> approximately 3,500 people who died while living at Oregon State 
> Hospital, Oregon State Tuberculosis Hospital, Mid-Columbia Hospital, 
> Dammasch State Hospital, Oregon State Penitentiary, and Fairview 
> Training Center between 1914 and the 1970s. These cremains were never 
> claimed.
>
> The hospital hopes to change that and unite the cremains with family 
> members. To that end, the hospital has posted this list of names of 
> the people whose cremated remains are in its possession. Hospital 
> officials urge anyone who thinks he or she may have a family member 
> who passed away at one of these institutions to review the list. As 
> soon as the connection can be confirmed, the hospital will make 
> arrangements for the cremains to be sent to the family.
>
> ---Carol Peterson
>
> 58cjpeterson at comcast.net
>
>
>
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