Relatives sought for Ingham County veteran  receiving military funeral on Wednesday

LANSING, MI – On this Veterans Day, Sparrow honors those who served our country by encouraging the public to attend a military honors funeral for a deceased veteran with no known family.

Petty Officer Third Class Warren Edward McClees died in Ingham County in 2015. After a thorough search by Sparrow’s Forensic Pathology investigators, no family could be identified or located. His cremated remains were eventually placed at St. Joseph Catholic Cemetery in Lansing during an unclaimed interment ceremony organized by Sparrow Forensic Pathology through the Catholic Diocese of Lansing.

Sparrow has now arranged for Petty Officer McClees to receive a full military honors funeral service at Fort Custer National Cemetery (Shown Left) in Augusta on Wednesday. The ceremony will be held at 10 a.m. Wednesday, Nov. 14, at Fort Custer, 15501 Dickman Road.

Sparrow’s Forensic Pathology Department, which is contracted as medical examiner for five local counties, takes pride in working exhaustively to identify the deceased and make sure they are given a respectful and dignified departure from life. That is especially true for military veterans, said the department’s Chief Investigator Luke Vogelsberg.

“It just seems like the right thing to do for these people,” Vogelsberg said. “They’ve done more for the country than I ever will. Honoring them accordingly is the least we can do. Even if there’s no family around to mourn their loss, we are in a position to take care of them, and should do so.”

Anyone with information about Petty Officer McClees should contact Vogelsberg at 517.364.3058 or Luke.Vogelsberg@Sparrow.Org.

Choose Wisely. Choose Sparrow.

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