Community rallies to give unclaimed Harbour Grace man a funeral
Woman hopes to bring home body from long-term storage
A Harbour Grace restaurant owner says she was heartbroken when she discovered that a fellow resident of her community went unclaimed after he died.
"It's just… heart-wrenching that somebody was forgotten. And that's the only way to say it," said Pauline Yetman. "They were actually forgotten in a freezer."
Yetman was talking about the 26 deceased people who lie in long-term storage freezers at the Health Sciences Centre in St. John's. Basic information about each individual is published on a Newfoundland and Labrador Health Services (NLHS) website.
Rendell Crane is one of them. He was a Harbour Grace man who died at age 72 in 2023.
Yetman doesn't know everything about him, but she knows that he and his wife were frequent church-goers, and that Crane was originally from Upper Island Cove.
She also knows that there's a tombstone with his name on it, and a plot for him next to his wife, who died in 2007.
"I just can't picture somebody being neglected, and forgotten and disrespected like that," Yetman told CBC News Friday.
"Someone has to know you. You deserve a little more than a freezer."
New legislation gives NLHS the power to bury unclaimed bodies after two weeks of searching for next of kin, and five days after the person is posted on a dedicated website. The health authority has issued a tender for a funeral home to handle those burials.
Yetman said she won't let that happen to Crane.
Her restaurant, Route 66 Diner and Pub, is hosting a fundraiser Saturday to raise money for a funeral. Yetman said it will also serve as a celebration of his life, even if she didn't know him.
Now, the wait begins.
Yetman is hoping to get confirmation that a local funeral home can claim Crane's remains for cremation and a service.
It's not clear whether a municipality or an unrelated party can claim a body, but NLHS chief operating officer Ron Johnson said the health authority will "work with" people.
"We're not being exclusive here," Johnson told reporters Friday. "We're trying to be inclusive to bring anyone forward to help with the process. Now, there are some legalities here that we have to work through and will certainly help people work through them."
He said the new legislation is meant to help people bury unclaimed bodies in the most appropriate place.
Johnson said he understands why people are emotional, and NLHS is trying to manage the sensitivities throughout the process.
"This has been very emotionally challenging for our whole team," he said.
In the meantime, Yetman is searching for more information about the unclaimed individuals from Conception Bay North.
"If I can help… I think we owe it to these people," she said.
"I pray to God that nobody else has to go through this," Yetman said with tears in her eyes. "I hope that there's never another body in a freezer anywhere in this world."
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With files from Mark Quinn and Elizabeth Whitten