SUNDAY, JUNE 27, 2021
SECTION
THE BULLETIN • SUNDAY, JUNE 27, D 2021
D1
THE BULLETIN’S MONTHLY
HEALTH SECTION
COVID-19 vaccination rates by county
How do Oregonians compare? Find out what percentage of residents have had two shots
compared with the rest of the nation.
CLATSOP
Rural, average or better
Rural, low
Rural, very low
Metro, average or better
Metro, low
*As of June 14
41.3
46.4
COLUMBIA
62.3
58
53.3
TILLAMOOK
WASHINGTON
48.1
HOOD
RIVER
MULTNOMAH
40.3
YAMHILL
43.5
53.6
GILLIAM
30.6
46.3
48.4
WALLOWA
34.9
44.8
MORROW
SHERMAN
CLACKAMAS
UMATILLA
35.6
UNION
33.5
WASCO
POLK
41.8
45.1
MARION
BAKER
WHEELER
LINCOLN
43.8
JEFFERSON
59.8
42.2
LINN
34.4
39
BENTON
57.2
GRANT
CROOK
50.9
LANE
50.3
35
DESCHUTES
HARNEY
COOS
DOUGLAS
41
31.6
37.4
MALHEUR
29.6
LAKE
28.3
KLAMATH
CURRY
40
35.2
JOSEPHINE
JACKSON
35.3
40.3
Completed vaccination rates per county by percent of population compared to the national adjusted rate of 40.4% of the total United States
population. “Average or better” is equal to or greater than the national average, “low” is up to 30% below the national average, and “very low”
is more than 30% below the national average.
Sources: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; select state departments of health; www.datawrapper.de
The Bulletin graphic
Unclaimed, unknown remains live in
Central Oregon funeral homes indefinitely
S
BY SUZANNE ROIG • The Bulletin
tashed in locked cabinets at mortuaries around Central
Oregon are the cremated remains of people lost to those who
knew them in life.
Some of them were famous. Others lived a regular life.
For these lost souls, the afterlife is
limbo, an urn on a shelf and a nota-
tion of basic facts just in case a loved
one comes forward to claim them
and place them in their final resting
place. This spring in Klamath Falls,
a group of Knights of Columbus
worked to give 143 unclaimed lives
a final send-off, a burial at the Mt.
Calvary Catholic Cemetery. The
group hoped to encourage other
chapters to step up and dedicate a
space for the unclaimed, but funeral
homes provide a temporary respite
in the meantime.
“We make every effort to find a
family member,” said Kevin Korn,
a licensed funeral home director
at Niswonger-Reynolds Funeral
Home in Bend. “Invariably, some-
one comes around and asks for
the remains. We can usually track
someone down, even if they are es-
tranged, or separated, or a distant
relative. Sometimes people will step
forward, and we try to meet the
family’s need financially.”
Oregon statutes call for a funeral
home to hold on to the body of
someone who dies without a fam-
ily to claim them for 10 days. After
that, the funeral home can cremate
the remains and must keep them for
180 days. Once th at time has past,
most funeral homes just hang on to
the remains.
“Our job is to make the remains,
not dispose of them,” said Brad
Byrholdt, Bend Funeral Homes
general manager. “I won’t bury un-
claimed remains because people do
come back. Every funeral home has
cremated remains that we safe-care
in case someone comes back and
asks for them.
“And they do.”
Many funeral homes work
through the Oregon Department
of State Lands to find a relative
through property records, Bryholdt
said. Sometimes the funeral home
will research the person or post a
death notice.
See Remains / D3