Posted on: Tuesday, June 29, 2004

Deceased patients to be honored

By Anna Weaver
Advertiser Staff Writer

Hawai'i State Hospital staff and patients, along with community members, will gather at Hawaiian Memorial Park on Thursday for the hospital's third annual Remembrance Ceremony. It honors the 668 patients whose unclaimed, cremated remains were stored in boxes in a hospital basement between 1930 and 1960, when they were properly buried.

Randolph Hack, a mental health services worker, led the effort for annual observances. "I did not want people to forget the unknown dead," he said. "When we neglect remains, neglect of people is not far behind."

The Rev. David Edwards, a chaplain at Hawai'i State Hospital and for Pacific Health Ministry, will speak at the ceremony along with Buddhist lay minister Gregory Pai. "There's a spiritual connection between people who have mental illness or work with mental illness, and us," Edwards said. "There's something healing about being together and celebrating these lives."

Dr. Bill Cody, who was medical director of Hawai'i State Hospital in 1960 when the remains were buried at Hawaiian Memorial Park, will also attend. "Many of the patients came from rural areas or Neighbor Islands," he said. "Their families may never have seen them again."

Cody sees a renewed nationwide effort to remember such patients. "I happen to know that many major abandoned mental institutions have adjacent cemetaries. And I know community members have been looking to straighten up these areas," he said.

Thursday's ceremony starts at 3:30 p.m. at Hawaiian Memorial Park in Kane'ohe. The ecumenical service includes the ringing of bells, followed by a moment of silence and a hula performance.

Reach Anna Weaver at aweaver@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-2455.