Space still a concern for coroner before interment of unclaimed cremains

Kim Calabrese never liked the idea of the cremated remains of her dead parents sitting in a public storage facility owned by another relative. When the rent on that facility fell behind, and she learned the contents went to auction, she feared the worst.

"I just wrote it off as, well, they're gone," she said. "I assumed they had just ended up in the garbage. It was not a happy situation."

Calabrese received a call Wednesday that brought her something she never thought she'd receive. A private citizen found a list of cremated remains kept by Kane County Coroner Rob Russell. And she did some amateur detective work that uncovered a link to family members of Vito and Penny Calabrese, two of the people scheduled for an entombment ceremony Thursday.

"That lady is an angel," Calabrese said. "Because of her, I'm going to Kane County tomorrow to get my mom and dad. And I'm going to take them to a beach in the Gulf of Mexico where my family spent summers and scatter the ashes. It will be closure."

Thursday's entombment will be the third such ceremony since Russell became coroner. The now-12 remaining "cremains" will join 51 others Russell already placed in the same mausoleum. But the future ability to handle similar remains is questionable.

The mausoleum has limited space. So does Russell's office. Before Russell became coroner, dozens of boxes of cremains sat in a storage closet with holiday decorations. He's asking other local cemeteries to help with future unclaimed remains. And he's still hoping county officials give him more space so future cremains don't continue to sit with pictures of jack-o'-lanterns.

"We can't keep those cremains in the regular office where people work," Russell said. "And we're short on space to store them any other way."

Russell has asked county board members for more space since 2012. There's a move afoot that may see the first progress toward that space.

Mike Kenyon has approached fellow board members with a plan for the coroner's office to swap space with the county's animal control facility. Animal control borrowed money from the county to open its current facility on Keslinger Road in Geneva. It is set to pay off that debt by the end of 2017. Kenyon believes animal control has more space than it needs.

"We should look at that animal control building and see if it is a possible solution to the coroner's space problems," Kenyon said in an interview. "Why spend another $1 million of taxpayer money on a new building if you don't have to?"

Russell said the animal control facility could be a good solution.

"Whether they build something new, or we swap with animal control, or we look to lease something, I'm open to it," Russell said. "The building I'm in has been renovated. It's just too small. And if my current space is good enough to provide service to the people of Kane County, I would think it's good enough to provide service to the dogs and cats of Kane County."