Daughter Reunites With Father's Remains

Aug. 21, 2008 — -- After 67 years, Martha Grinestaff finally reconnected with her father -- albeit in the afterlife. Sort of.

Her father died of diabetes in 1941 when she was 8 years old. Her mother had never picked up his remains from the Ohio funeral home where his body had been cremated.

"My mother was very organized and responsible but had to find work and the war started in December," Grinestaff told ABCNews.com. "So I don't know why."

But a friend, who had grown up with Grinestaff, saw a notice in a newspaper that the ashes of Julius Morgen were stored neatly among 34 other uncollected "cremains" at Toledo's Abele Funeral Home.

"It absolutely took my breath away for a few minutes," said the 75-year-old widow from Lakeview, Ohio. "It still confuses me when I think about it. But it brings back a lot of memories."

Funeral directors say that abandoned ashes are common when relatives can't afford a burial, or in the case of Grinestaff's mother, forget during the stressful period that follows a loved one's death.

"I hate to say it, but this happens more times than it should," said John Reed, president-elect of the National Funeral Directors Association.

"God knows why it happens," Reed told ABCNews.com. "Maybe somebody's moved or there is some disagreement over who had custody. Sometimes it's the final reality or complacency -- out of sight, out of mind -- or not knowing what to do."

A survey by the Cremation Association of North America said that about 1.7 percent of cremated remains go unclaimed. Of those not picked up, 59 percent were placed in storage at the funeral home.

More Americans than ever before are choosing cremation as a budget-conscious method of "final disposition," according to CANA. Since 1975, cremations have jumped from 6 percent to 34 percent, and the group predicts those numbers could jump to more than half of all Americans who will choose to be cremated by 2025.

Funeral costs can vary around the country, but a burial with full traditional services can cost between $4,500 and $40,000. Cremation, on the other hand, ranges from $1,700 to "several thousand dollars," according to Reed.