Bernalillo County officials and members of the public gathered Thursday morning to recognize 222 deceased residents as part of its unclaimed indigent cremation program — the highest number since the initiative began in 2012. A ceremony was held at Fairview Memorial Park in Albuquerque where each person’s name was read.
Urns containing ashes from cremations that took place in 2021 and 2022 were placed inside four caskets that had been draped with the official flag of Bernalillo County.
“We’re here to remember those among us who, in death, had no family to claim them, no one to speak their name, no one to stand at their gravesite,” Robert Noblin Jr., the owner of Director’s Choice Mortuary Services, said. “Yet today, we ensure that they’re not forgotten.”
Under the program, a deceased person is classified as indigent when there is no property or assets available to cover the cost of a cremation or burial. The majority of those who were recognized at the ceremony had experienced extreme poverty or homelessness.