What happens if a person dies and no one claims them?

Allen Chase placed a red rose atop a silver casket, bowing his head to kiss the painted wood.

Inside one of four caskets were the cremated remains of his wife and life partner of 25 years, Tina Marie Chase.

Chase’s wife was buried Thursday alongside 170 others whose families either could not afford their burial or are no longer around to put their loved ones to rest.

Each year since 2012, Bernalillo County has cremated and held funerals for residents whose families either couldn’t be reached or couldn’t pay for their arrangements.

About 50 people, including county employees, firefighters, family members and citizens, gathered Thursday to send off the deceased, many of whom they had never met.

Allen Chase sat still in a white lawn chair at Fairview Memorial Park on Yale SE in Albuquerque until he heard his wife’s name read aloud and doubled over with a pained cry.

“Just hearing her name …,” Chase said, his voice faltering.

Tina Marie Chase loved plants and jigsaw puzzles, was a skilled seamstress and the couple frequently passed time playing card games, chess and poker, her family members said. She was cremated on June 18, 2023.

Chase did not say how or when his wife died.

“It’s easy in the hustle of our daily lives to forget about those who may be less visible, or those who may struggle in the margins,” said Robert Noblin, the funeral director for Director’s Choice Mortuary Service. “But today, we pause and we remember that each person has inherent worth, every life has meaning and it is our responsibility as a community to show compassion for them.”

The county holds on to unclaimed remains for 30 days before cremating them. Next, the county will safeguard their ashes for two years in case a family member steps forward. After that, they are buried alongside dozens of others in an annual ceremony.

To qualify, the decedent must have been a resident of Bernalillo County for at least six months and have no property or assets.

This year, the remains of 171 people were placed in four caskets, which were lowered into two graves with a pair of caskets stacked on top of the other.

“The word says that the Lord is close to the brokenhearted,” said Pastor Richard Mansfield of New Beginnings Church of God in his eulogy. “And many of them had stories that some of us got to hear, many of these were educated, hardworking people and one thing went to another and next thing you know, they’re out of a job, out of a home, and wandering the streets. Some of their family members don’t even know they’re gone, but they long for them, long to hear from them and they’ll never hear from them again.”

The county doesn’t count how many people were homeless at the time of their death, said county spokesperson Randy Harrison.

“A hundred different people, a hundred different stories,” Harrison said of those being laid to rest.

After the service, Chase lingered as county workers carefully lowered the silver caskets into the dark earth. Attendees kneeled beside him to give their condolences, hand him flowers and shake his hand.

All the while he held onto a ruby red rose, his wife’s favorite flower. It was a sign, he said, that Tina Marie Chase was watching over him.