Remembering everyone: Ceremony offers final respect to indigent, unclaimed neighbors

By Rodd Cayton, The Paper.– The main theme of the Sept. 3 burial service at Fairview Memorial Park was that everyone matters. Robert Noblin, speaking at the Bernalillo County annual memorial ceremony described the act of remembering the community’s indigent and unconnected as a solemn and sacred purpose.

“It’s a time for us as a community to come together and to offer respect and dignity and an appropriate farewell to those who’ve left this world,” Noblin said. “We’re committed to ensuring that every person, regardless of their life circumstances, receives the dignity that they deserve in death. No one should leave this world unrecognized or unmourned. And today we’re together to make sure that doesn’t happen.”

This year’s ceremony, County Manager Cindy Chavez said, has more personal elements than in the past. The remains of the  170 people being honored were laid to rest in caskets given names evocative of the region: Zia, Adobe, Turquoise and Yucca. After each group of names was read, their family members were invited to place it over the casket. Senior Chaplain Sherry Granger Archuleta of Bernalillo County Fire Rescue gave the eulogy. “‘I have called you by name, you are mine,’” she said, reading from the biblical Book of Isaiah. “Today, as each name is spoken, we honor that truth: that every person is known, that every person is valued, and is worthy of remembrance … Each name represents someone who walked among us, someone who breathed, who hoped, who laughed, who hurt, and who dreamed.”

Chavez said the county’s Unclaimed Indigent Cremation Program team works for up to two years to locate family members and loved ones of the deceased “Sometimes, despite our best efforts, we were unable to find that connection,” she said. “And when that happens, we simply do not let them disappear from our communities. Instead, we come together as we are today. We speak their names, we acknowledge their lives, and we make sure they are laid to rest with dignity, respect, and the care each member of our family and our community deserves.”

State Sen. Harold Pope Jr. also spoke at the ceremony, and a letter from County Commissioner Walt Benson was read. Singer and guitarist Larry Gallegos performed Psalm 23 and “Go in Peace” by Sarah Hart and Dwight Liles. Members of the Bernalillo County Chaplain Unit were on hand after the ceremony to offer support and counseling to those with the need. Attendees were also offered flowers to place on the caskets.

Michelle Tofoya of Los Lunas attended the service after hearing of it on social media. She said it’s good to pay attention to the departed, who may not have been noticed in life.”We need to remember that everybody is somebody,” Tafoya said. “We all have a story. We all make a difference.”