Because it bore the name Mark Kelley, staff searched the
internet for an obituary, said Terry Wheeler, who works maintenance at
Goodwill, and found the man had died in New Mexico and was a Korean War
veteran.
Members of the Patriot Guard salute during a ceremony
Thursday laying to rest the ashes of a Korean War veteran that were found at a
Northwest Indiana Goodwill. (George Sanchez)
Wheeler said he has family members who are veterans and thought he needed to do something with the ashes. “I just couldn’t let it go like that.”
So he called Shawn Kochopolus, a Navy veteran from Cedar
Lake, who called Jason Gootee, also a Navy veteran and a Lake County veterans
service officer, who made arrangements with Hillside Funeral Home, which found
the cremains a burial plot at Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery, in Elwood,
Ill.
The remains of Mark “Bud” Kelley, 79, who died in New Mexico
in 2013, were laid to rest with veterans’ honors Thursday.
“If I couldn’t have done anything, I would have done
everything in my power to find somebody who could,” Gootee said.
Finding an urn was new for Wheeler, and for those who helped
find Kelley a resting place. “I’ve never seen this before,” Wheeler said. “I
think it’s a rare thing.”
Kochopolus said Wheeler called him about what to do with the
ashes, and then reached out the county’s Veterans Service Office. “To me, as a
veteran, it made sense,” Kochopolus said. “I wouldn’t leave a man behind.”
The Lake County Veterans Service Office routinely handles
burials for families, Gootee said, but he can’t remember any cases involving
unclaimed remains.
“I was just taken aback at first that this was a situation,”
Gootee said.
The man’s obituary said he once lived in Peru, Ind., Gootee
said, and he reached out to the Miami County Veterans Service Office, which
sent Kelley’s service separation papers. Gootee said the paperwork showed
Kelley was in the Air Force, served in the Korean War and was awarded two
Bronze Stars.
Gootee called Hillside Funeral Home to see what arrangements
could be made for the unclaimed cremains. With the discharge paperwork, Hillside
was able to make arrangements with Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery.
“I’m just happy this fell into our hands,” Gootee said. “And
that it’s an office that strives very hard to serve the veterans in this area.
“I’m just glad the pieces of the puzzle fell together.”
Gootee said it was important that he made sure Kelley had a
proper burial and was not just left alone. “I would hope somebody would do the
same for me,” he said.
Gootee said he tried to reach out to the next of kin whom
the Miami County office had on file but never got a response.
“Sometimes families fall apart,” Kochopolus said. “There are
good people out there.”
“You just hope someone good out there takes care of you when
you’re gone,” Kochopolus said.
Gootee said he thought it was important to see Kelley buried
with veteran’s honors and not as unclaimed remains. “I can’t imagine just
floating around like that,” Gootee said.
“It was just crazy to me,” he said. “I didn’t think this was
something that would happen.”
On Thursday Kelley’s ashes were escorted to the cemetery by
the Patriot Guard, taps was sounded, rifled fire was volleyed, a flag was
presented, and he was laid to rest.
“It warmed my heart up to see this happen,” Wheeler said.
“For us to get this done for him is very satisfying for me.”
SOURCE: Chicago Tribune
