Chatham County honors, buries unclaimed remains of 500 people in Greenwich Cemetery

On Wednesday, Chatham County held a funeral service for more than 500 people under the hanging moss of Greenwich Cemetery.

Greenwich is tucked away behind the gates of neighboring Bonaventure Cemetery. County officials, led by Coroner David Campbell and Chatham Commission Chairman Chester A. Ellis, honored the lives of those whose cremated remains were never claimed by family members.

The remains were placed into four separate vaults, about the same size as a coffin, and buried. A granite slab including the names of the deceased contained within will be placed over each of the four burial plots.

The remains span nearly 80 years of time: the oldest were from the 1940s, and the most recent remains were from earlier this month.

Chatham County news: Transportation infrastructure is overdue for upgrades. TSPLOST is the answer.

Also: As Georgia leads the U.S. in positive flu cases, Chatham adds drive-thru vaccination clinics

The ceremony featured pastors of various denominations, including Rev. Charles Roberson of Kingdom Life Ministries, Rev. Robert Chaney from Resurrection of Our Lord Catholic Church, Rev. William Willoughby from St. Paul of the Apostle Episcopal Church and Justin Addington of First Baptist Church.

A press release said clergy from "nearly 29" places of worship in Chatham County had committed to attend, though attendance was light Tuesday.

Both Savannah Mayor Van Johnson and Ellis gave remarks as well.

"At the end of the day, we don't get out of this race alive. And although I believe there's a place that our spirits go, our bodies need a place to rest," Johnson said. "And so, here is a place now of rest. There is a place now that people can come, and it's a very beautiful place to be able to reflect, to be able to remember, to be able to pray."

Said Ellis: "There's an old African proverb that says: 'as long as their names are called, they will not be forgotten,' If any family members ever show up to find out what happened, they can go to the coroner's office and find the answer to where their loved one is, for it is appointed unto all of us to love thy neighbor as thyself."

A burial with dignity

Campbell said when he was first elected in 2019, in his first meeting with county leadership, they told them about a pileup of a few hundred cremated remains, or "cremains," that had never been claimed by family members.

"So when I went into office for the first time, and we did a count, we had over 500 instead of a couple of 100," Campbell said.

Both Campbell and the county knew they needed to clear up the space, but wanted to provide a dignified burial for the unclaimed remains.

"They didn't want to throw them out anywhere," Campbell said. "They didn't want them to get lost in the rubbish. So that's how we came to this burial."

Campbell said now that the backlog of cremated remains has been cleared out, he's making it a priority to make sure it never gets this high again.

"We will never let it get up over 500 again — we won't let him get over 10 before we find a way, some space where we can have a burial," Campbell said.

Will Peebles is the City Council and County Commission reporter for Savannah Morning News, covering local Savannah and Chatham County decisions. He can be reached at wpeebles@savannahnow.com or on Twitter @willpeeblesSMN

This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Chatham County holds funeral, buries 500 unclaimed remains from coroner