sws4420
04-17-2005, 07:48 AM
http://www.eg0.org/images/bill/JaneDoeFuneral.jpg
SCHENECTADY -- A nameless woman who met an ignoble end beneath a Rotterdam porch was laid to rest on a Schenectady hillside in the springtime sun Friday afternoon.
More than 50 people attended the memorial service at the Daly Funeral Home for the woman, who was found in December. A dozen of them followed the hearse to the Pine View Cemetery on Fehr Road. They came because no one should leave this world alone, they said, and that they imagined themselves or one of their family members in such a position.
The woman, being called Jane Doe, represents the town's first homicide in two years, and the first unnamed burial anyone could recall.
"The people who came here today adopted her as their daughter," said funeral home owner Larry Daly. The Rev. Richard Frank, a Pentecostal minister from Maranatha Ministries in Niskayuna, conducted the service at the chapel and the graveside along with the Rev. Dominic Isopo of St. Luke's Roman Catholic Church in Schenectady.
The county paid for a pauper's funeral, which costs an average of $2,200, according to Schenectady County Social Services Commissioner Dennis Packard. Daly provided a nicer casket, the cemetery provided a nicer plot, florists gave baskets full of flowers and the clergymen donated their time, Daly said.
The remains were found the day after Christmas by Arlene Howland, who lived at 2038 Cedarlawn Ave. and had been completing repairs on the property.
Police believe the woman stood about 5 feet 2. In February, police released a sketch of what she might have looked like, but no one identified her and forensics could not find a match. The body was in such a state of decomposition that authorities were not able to determine when she died.
Two Rotterdam police detectives also attended the services. They spoke to no one and stood slightly removed from the proceedings. Lt. Dominic Dagostino, the head of the town Police Department's detective division, said the investigation is continuing but had nothing new to announce. He would not comment on his detectives' presence at the funeral other than that it was part of the investigation.
Along with the detectives, several nuns came out Friday afternoon. Sister Theresa works in Hamilton Hill near the funeral home and came after other sisters, who work at St. Claire's Hospital, told her about the service.
"Those people need more of our prayers because other people have family," she said. "But this person has nobody."
The brief service lasted less than 20 minutes.
"Our prayer is that she has found the family in heaven that did not claim her on Earth," Frank said.
Those not traveling to the cemetery paid their final respects at the funeral home when the clergymen finished. They knelt before the white casket, made the sign of the cross and prayed. Some wore tweed suits; others came clad in fleece jackets and sweatpants.
Donna Willi from Schenectady came with a half-dozen yellow roses.
"It could happen to anybody," she said, explaining why she came. The roses, she said, were to add a bit of cheer to a somber celebration. She left touched that so many people would come to the funeral of a woman no one knew, she said.
There will be no stone for Jane Doe, Daly said, unless community members donate the money. A simple brass footstone flush with the ground would cost about $625.
After a few more words from Daly, Isopo and Frank, those in attendance returned to their cars. Cemetery workers began moving flowers away from the casket. Just after 3 p.m., Jane Doe was lowered into the ground.
Anyone wanting to contribute for a headstone can call the funeral home at 374-1600.
http://timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=351698&category=SCHENECTADY&BCCode=LOCAL&newsdate=4/17/2005
SCHENECTADY -- A nameless woman who met an ignoble end beneath a Rotterdam porch was laid to rest on a Schenectady hillside in the springtime sun Friday afternoon.
More than 50 people attended the memorial service at the Daly Funeral Home for the woman, who was found in December. A dozen of them followed the hearse to the Pine View Cemetery on Fehr Road. They came because no one should leave this world alone, they said, and that they imagined themselves or one of their family members in such a position.
The woman, being called Jane Doe, represents the town's first homicide in two years, and the first unnamed burial anyone could recall.
"The people who came here today adopted her as their daughter," said funeral home owner Larry Daly. The Rev. Richard Frank, a Pentecostal minister from Maranatha Ministries in Niskayuna, conducted the service at the chapel and the graveside along with the Rev. Dominic Isopo of St. Luke's Roman Catholic Church in Schenectady.
The county paid for a pauper's funeral, which costs an average of $2,200, according to Schenectady County Social Services Commissioner Dennis Packard. Daly provided a nicer casket, the cemetery provided a nicer plot, florists gave baskets full of flowers and the clergymen donated their time, Daly said.
The remains were found the day after Christmas by Arlene Howland, who lived at 2038 Cedarlawn Ave. and had been completing repairs on the property.
Police believe the woman stood about 5 feet 2. In February, police released a sketch of what she might have looked like, but no one identified her and forensics could not find a match. The body was in such a state of decomposition that authorities were not able to determine when she died.
Two Rotterdam police detectives also attended the services. They spoke to no one and stood slightly removed from the proceedings. Lt. Dominic Dagostino, the head of the town Police Department's detective division, said the investigation is continuing but had nothing new to announce. He would not comment on his detectives' presence at the funeral other than that it was part of the investigation.
Along with the detectives, several nuns came out Friday afternoon. Sister Theresa works in Hamilton Hill near the funeral home and came after other sisters, who work at St. Claire's Hospital, told her about the service.
"Those people need more of our prayers because other people have family," she said. "But this person has nobody."
The brief service lasted less than 20 minutes.
"Our prayer is that she has found the family in heaven that did not claim her on Earth," Frank said.
Those not traveling to the cemetery paid their final respects at the funeral home when the clergymen finished. They knelt before the white casket, made the sign of the cross and prayed. Some wore tweed suits; others came clad in fleece jackets and sweatpants.
Donna Willi from Schenectady came with a half-dozen yellow roses.
"It could happen to anybody," she said, explaining why she came. The roses, she said, were to add a bit of cheer to a somber celebration. She left touched that so many people would come to the funeral of a woman no one knew, she said.
There will be no stone for Jane Doe, Daly said, unless community members donate the money. A simple brass footstone flush with the ground would cost about $625.
After a few more words from Daly, Isopo and Frank, those in attendance returned to their cars. Cemetery workers began moving flowers away from the casket. Just after 3 p.m., Jane Doe was lowered into the ground.
Anyone wanting to contribute for a headstone can call the funeral home at 374-1600.
http://timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=351698&category=SCHENECTADY&BCCode=LOCAL&newsdate=4/17/2005