An unclaimed veteran

Funerals aren’t always rip-roaring outpourings of grief and remembrance, especially for folks who are older and don’t have a large family.

By a certain age, a person’s peers may be dead, in poor health or living far away. Affiliations that supply friends and acquaintances, such as work, volunteering or attending religious services, recede with advancing age and declining health. Personal relationships may deteriorate over time.

Yet no one should be buried with only gravediggers looking on.

John James Murphy, 71, was a decorated Air Force veteran of the Vietnam War who lived in Elgin’s River View Rehab Center in suburban Chicago before his recent death. He was believed to have relatives, but no one stepped forward to claim him as kin or loved one, reports Rafael Guerrero in the Elgin Courier-News. An unattended funeral is not unheard of. Funeral homes often deal with them quietly.

Not this time. Symonds-Madison Funeral Home owners Daniel and Joy Symonds decided they would hold a service fitting of a military veteran. The Daily Herald published a story in which Murphy was described as friendly, polite and helpful. “Funeral for unclaimed veteran Wednesday in Elgin,” the headline read. Word about his potentially lonely funeral spread on social media.

When the day of the funeral arrived, the line to pay respects stretched out the door. “Many of you have come for a funeral for an unclaimed veteran,” the Rev. Tim Perry said. “What we would like for you to think about is this man is no longer unclaimed—he is ours.”

Gathering to mark the passing of a life is among the most profound of human acts. If the life belonged to a complete stranger, the act becomes selfless.

John James Murphy was buried with full military honors. His mourners numbered in the many hundreds.