West Auckland’s Morrisons Funerals preparing mass interment of 700 unclaimed ashes

More than 700 unclaimed urns are being securely stored at Morrisons Funerals. Photo / Morrisons Funerals

A West Auckland funeral home is preparing a mass interment for more than 700 unclaimed urns containing human remains, some of which have been stored for close to a century.

Morrisons Funerals, which has locations in Henderson and Glen Innes, put a call out yesterday for anyone who may have a loved one whose ashes were never collected to get in touch.

Location manager Natasha Plunkett told the Herald they had inherited several urns after the closure of nearby funeral homes, while others from the 1930s and 1940s were still being looked after.

“For some, it’s been a long period of time,” she said.

She said it highlighted the emotional weight of post-death decisions, and how a simple task such as collecting ashes can be overwhelmed by grief, conflict or not knowing what to do with them.

Anyone with a loved one whose ashes were never collected has been asked to contact Morrisons Funerals, which is preparing a mass interment.

The funeral home is asking for ashes to be claimed by December 1.

“We’re doing a mass interment of the ones we’ve got up until 2020,” Plunkett said.

“And then the ones from 2020-2025, we’re actually keeping on-site for the last five years, so that if anybody has been overseas or something like that, there’s still a chance they might contact us.”

Currently stored in a secure room, the unclaimed ashes will be interred in a Māngere Lawn Cemetery plot.

A plaque with a QR code with a link to the names of the people whose ashes have been interred will beat the site, allowing people to check whose ashes are there, Plunkett said.

“If you’re not sure, you know, ring us and we can look the names up and see if we can match them with anybody that may be out there.”

Ashes do not get collected for many reasons, including the death or illness of the person meant to collect them, family conflict, people living away from where the urns are, or emotional avoidance, she said.

“We find a lot of things these days, like the children are overseas and the mothers or parents die in New Zealand.”

The funeral home recently had a success story where a grandson collected his grandfather’s ashes.

“He came and he claimed them and now he’s laid his grandfather to rest.

“He’s just really pleased that he ... eventually found out where they were and that he could come and get them.”

Families should talk with their loved ones about what they want to happen to their ashes after they die, as it often gets overlooked in wills, which can lead to worries about what to do with them, she said.

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