Los Angeles: Unclaimed Dead To Be Buried In Mass Grave
November 30th, 2016I thought this would be one for the Collapse category, but it doesn’t really fit because the practice is standard operating procedure:
The county has interred unclaimed remains every year since 1896.
Via: Los Angeles Daily News:
Many were homeless. Most are now nameless. A few came from families hopeless of having enough money to give their loved ones a decent burial.
The cremated remains of 1,430 down-and-out Los Angeles County residents will be laid to rest Wednesday at a mass grave at the L.A. County Crematory and Cemetery in Boyle Heights.
“This holiday season, many of us are reminded of how fortunate we are to be surrounded by our loved ones,” said Supervisor Don Knabe, who will attend his last pauper’s funeral before retiring Friday after 20 years of representing the 4th District, in a statement.
“These are individuals who, for one reason or another, have no one but the county to provide them with a respectful and dignified burial.”
The simple but solemn ceremony, with prayers conducted in many languages for each of the Christian, Jewish, Muslim and Buddhist faiths, has become an end-of-year ritual at the five-acre potter’s field.
The county has interred unclaimed remains every year since 1896.
