Skagit County to Host Unclaimed Remains Remembrance Ceremony

Press ReleaseCommunity

The Skagit County Coroner’s Office will host a remembrance ceremony for unclaimed remains at the Mount Vernon Cemetery Chapel, 1200 E Fir Street, Mount Vernon, on Friday, May 2nd, at 11:00 a.m. The ceremony will honor the memory of 59 individuals who have been unclaimed at the Coroner’s Office since 2019. The community is welcome to join the ceremony to recognize those being laid to rest.
“While we may not have known who they were in life, we will respect and honor who they are at death,” said Skagit County Coroner Hayley Thompson. “It is important that we show dignity to the lives of those in our community.”
 
The order of service for the ceremony will be as follows:

Opening Prayer Pastor Jim Cannon
Introduction County Coroner Hayley Thompson
Reading of Names Pastor Jim Cannon and Hayley Thompson
Mausoleum Introduction           Kern Funeral Home
Open Sharing Pastor Jim Cannon
Closing Benediction Pastor Jim Cannon
 
The unclaimed remains will be scattered out at sea for their final resting place and a plaque identifying those who were unclaimed will be placed at the Mount Vernon Cemetery. The last remembrance ceremony in Skagit County was held in October of 2019.
Unclaimed remains are deceased individuals who are not claimed by friends or family of the deceased. The Skagit County Coroner’s Office conducts extreme due diligence to search for family or people of importance to the deceased before they are designated as unclaimed.
If members of the community have questions about unclaimed remains or the ceremony, please reach out to the Coroner’s Office at (360) 416-1996 or coroner@co.skagit.wa.us.

Skagit County to Host Unclaimed Remains Remembrance Ceremony