The King County Indigent Remains Program handles the burial of people who died poor and destitute.

It’s the only funeral service many of these people receive. A ceremony June 13 at Mt. Olivet Cemetery in Renton paid tribute to 154 individuals in King County whose remains went unclaimed by their families. Of those deceased, 22 were female. (SEE PHOTOS)

A bench and multiple markers are grouped into a corner of the Renton cemetery with the epitaph “Gone but not forgotten, these people of Seattle.”

The program is managed by the King County Medical Examiner’s Office and provides funding for cremation of indigent individuals who die in the county. An effort is made to contact the deceased person’s next of kin.

About every two years, the office hosts a burial and service.

“This is where the dead teach the living,” said Dr. Richard Harruff, medical examiner, at the Wednesday ceremony. Harruff and Joe Frisino, lead investigator for Public Health Seattle and King County, recited the entire list of 154 names at the end of the service.

Leaders from a range of faith communities — including Catholic, Jewish and Native American — delivered prayers and blessings for the deceased.

“This is all too often the only memorial service the homeless have,” said Tammy Ray of the Church of Mary Magdalene in Seattle, who advocates on their behalf. “We are grateful they are buried with dignity.”

The ceremony included a rendition of “The Wayfaring Stranger,” a folk song:

I’m just a poor wayfaring stranger

I’m traveling through this world of woe

Yet there’s no sickness, toil nor danger

In that bright land to which I go

I’m going there to see my mother/father

I’m going there no more to roam

I’m only going over Jordan

I’m only going over home

The program relies on an operating budget of about $160,000 in 2012, with an extra $25,000 in community donations and family contributions, the county reports.

SEE PHOTOS

Click here to see photos from the June 13 ceremony at Mt. Olivet Cemetery in Renton.

King County Indigent Burial 2012

Here are the 154 people honored June 13 (with date of death):

1 ADELL, LARRY 9-25-10

2 ALLEN, JIMMY 2-2-11

3 ANDERSON, CLARENCE 8-13-04

4 ARMSTRONG, THOMAS LESLIE 1-8-11

5 ARNOLD, ERNESTINE 7-29-10

6 ARNOTT, ANNA 8-20-11

7 ASHLEY, HERBERT AARON 6-24-10

8 AUSTIN, DORIS 12-4-10

9 AYALA, GEORGE ALLEN 6-19-11

10 BALL, JOHN T. 7-20-11

11 BARNETTE, ROGER 6-27-10

12 BASANICH, WILLIAM J. 7-15-10

13 BEACH, VIRGIL L. 7-17-10

14 BERES, RONALD B. 8-12-11

15 BEVER, HAROLD L. 2-25-11

16 BILITZ, JOHN 5-10-10

17 BOLDT, SHERYL 2-13-10

18 BONNER, RICHARD J. 10-3-04

19 BORSKI, ROBERT 4-19-10

20 BOTTINI, RICHARD E. 3-17-10

21 BURNS, JUNE 8-28-11

22 CARLSON, JEANNE M. 3-11-10

23 CASTRO, GREGORIO M. 7-2-10

24 CAUDLE, JR. , JIMMIE HAROLD 1-14-10

25 CHRISTENSEN, SANDRA DAWN 1-14-11

26 COFFIN, PERCY R. 3-6-10

27 CONNELLY, JR. , WALTER J. 2-8-11

28 COOPER, JACK W. 8-11-11

29 DAVIS, GARY B. 3-21-11

30 DAVIS, JAMES L. 5-26-10

31 DEGRE – ROMO, LORIANN 7-27-10

32 DISTEFFANO, CHICO G. 10-5-10

33 DUNN, JAMES R. 1-5-10

34 DURAN, DOROTHY M. 2-9-10

35 DUVERGEL, RODOLFO C. 2-15-11

36 EOFF, SIDNEY R. 12-26-10

37 EWING, JAMES EDWARD 2-24-11

38 FINLEY, GERALD J. 7-5-11

39 FITZGERALD, TIMOTHY L. 8-12-11

40 FIX, DANA MICHAEL 7-9-10

41 FOLWELL, RUSSELL 4-20-10

42 FORD, LINDA R. 3-6-11

43 FOSTER, JOHN A. 4-27-11

44 FREEMAN, J. MICHAEL 4-21-10

45 GANTT, JR. , DARNELL HOWARD 2-19-10

46 GILES, DOUGLAS TYRONE 4-18-11

47 GIMLIN, GERALD 5-28-11

48 GOLDNER, CHRISTOPHER C. 10-16-10

49 GOMEZ, SIMEON 6-30-11

50 HALE, DEBORAH ANN 7-31-10

51 HALSTEIN, GAIL J. 4-10-06

52 HALVORSON, ARCHIE 2-22-09

53 HARPER, MARK A. 4-6-10

54 HEARNE, LARRY A. 5-20-10

55 HERNANDEZ – LEON, MIGUEL 8-27-11

56 HILL, JAMES DONALD 10-19-10

57 HOOD, CHRISTOPHER L. 7-12-10

58 HORSFALL, JEANINE 8-9-11

59 HOUSTON, ROBERT LEE 1-6-11

60 HUNTLEY, WILLIAM ALLISON 2-5-11

61 INGER, MICHAEL L. 2-3-10

62 ISOLA, FRANK 8-10-11

63 JACKSON, JR., LEONIDAS D. 5-2-11

64 JAMES, DAVID 5-29-10

65 JEREMIC, SHAWN D. 4-3-10

66 JESPER, HUGH W. 6-6-10

67 JESPER, JERRY E.4-29-10

68 JOHANSEN, JAY D. 2-28-11

69 JONES, HARRISON H. 2-8-11

70 JONES, LEROY E. 9-12-10

71 JONES, RICKEY FRANK 4-16-10

72 JONES, ROBERT LEE 9-4-10

73 KASLOW, BRENDA JOYCE 1-28-10

74 KUNKLE, GARY D. 4-3-11

75 LACH, ANDREW 5-10-11

76 LAMBETH, RUSSELL EUGENE 4-6-10

77 LARA, MELVIN K. 7-29-11

78 LASSITER, FRANCINE 2-14-10

79 LOCKE, JR., FREDERICK A. 3-24-11

80 LOFTUS, ROBERT A. 5-19-11

81 LUM, EARL 5-6-10

82 LYNG, OWEN 12-21-10

83 MARLEY, ELMO 7-22-11

84 MARTIN, LINDA JOHNENE 5-21-11

85 MARTINEZ, ANDREZ QUINTANA, 8-20-10

86 MCCLENDON, JOVONIE L. 10-30-10

87 MCGILLIVARY, CAROLE J. 7-22-11

88 MCKINLEY, THOMAS 2-19-11

89 MCNEILLY, KATHY 4-10-10

90 MEACHAM, MALCOLM 11-15-10

91 MILLER, GLENDA M. 12-24-10

92 MONROE, JESSE F. 4-29-11

93 MOORE, FRANCES A. 2-27-10

94 MOORE, JOHN A. 5-10-10

95 MORALES – CANDIA, CARLOS 6-26-10

96 MORAN, ARNOLD 4-3-10

97 MOTEN, ERNEST P. 7-27-11

98 MOUSSEAU, JOEL KENT 1-27-11

99 NGUYEN, DAT VAN 8-4-11

100 OGLE, ELIZABETH 1-30-03

101 OLSON, MELVIN OLE 2-15-10

102 ONTIVEROS, FLOYD B. 3-26-10

103 PADILLA, MARCO 7-16-10

104 PALMER, TERRI L. 7-23-11

105 PASTRANA, APOLONIO A. 6-19-10

106 PITTS, JEFFREY K. 2-2-10

107 PLANT, HELEN S. 3-22-10

108 POINTER, GARY ANTON 4-22-11

109 POYATO, ALEXIS GUERRA 4-26-10 **2 URNS**

110 PRICE, KEVIN F. 3-22-10

111 RAMSEY, JAMES THEODOREL

112 REDDING, RONALD 5-2-10

113 REEDER, SR., CALVIN DENNIS 12-10-10

114 REID, HENRY MILTON 1-16-11

115 RICHARDS, LOUIS M. 7-30-10

116 ROGERS, JOHN GEORGE 4-12-09

117 ROHWEDER, PATTY 3-18-11

118 ROLFE, MARY FRANCIS 2-20-10

119 ROQUE, DAMIAN D. 1-9-10

120 ROWE, CHRISTOPHER JON 12-14-10

121 SABO, RAYMOND, 1-14-10

122 SANDERS, JOYCE F. 4-4-11

123 SCHMIDT, DANIEL LAWRENCE 11-29-07

124 SEIFER, RANDY P. 5-9-11

125 SHORTER, TIMOTHY J. 8-9-11

126 SIERRA, LUIS ENRIQUE 12-3-10

127 SMITH, TODD ALAN 1-26-11

128 SPRAGUE, MICHAEL 5-20-11

129 STANIFER, GLENDA S. 7-7-10

130 STANLEY, PAUL JAMES 10-27-10

131 STEWART, EDWARD L. 8-14-04

132 STITES, VIVIAN V. 12-24-10

133 SWADLEY, KIMBERLY DEANA 11-20-10

134 TALBOT, ANN CAMPBELL 1-15-08

135 THATCHER, JEFF W. 2-26-10

136 THOMAS, ULYSSES 7-28-08

137 THOME, PETER 4-24-10

138 THORNE, JAMES M. 7-5-10

139 TRAMMELL, THOMAS L. 9-26-10

140 TURNER, TOMMY LEE 12-4-07

141 TUTTO, ERNO 8-8-10

142 VARNON, HORACE

143 VOGEL, LEO T. 4-22-11

144 WAHLEITNER, GLENN 4-5-10

145 WALTON, BARBARA J. 2-15-11

146 WATSON, EARL H. 8-15-10

147 WEDEMEYER, LOWELL WILLIAM 1-7-11

148 WEST, PENNY 2-7-11

149 WHITE, JOSEPH NATHAN 1-30-10

150 WHITFIELD, THOMAS HENRY 10-22-07

151 WILKINS, CLIFFORD W. 2-22-10

152 WOLFE, WILLIAM J. 6-13-11

153 WOODS – FIELDS, DARLENE 9-20-10

154 WURZER, ERIC ANTHONY 1-31-11