September 23, 2025
SALEM, Ore. – This year, the stories of 116 people who lived and died in state institutions between 1914 and 1973 – and whose remains were never claimed – now have a different ending.
Many of them never saw family again, and after their deaths, Oregon State Hospital became the custodian of their remains. That’s now changed.
On Tuesday, OSH celebrated the reunification of those whose remains have been claimed by family over the past year at its annual cremains ceremony.
OSH Interim Superintendent Jim Diegel shares remarks during the hospital’s annual cremains ceremony on Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2025. Dave Baden, OHA deputy director of policy and programs, is pictured right.
“We don’t know why no one came forward – lack of money, incorrect or no contact information – or stigma,” said OSH Interim Superintendent Jim Diegel during the ceremony. “We do know that stigma persists today but so does hope. So does support, care and recovery. So does the dedication of caregivers at OSH to support people in their recovery journey and to recognize their capacity to live healthy and rewarding lives.”
It’s easy to forget the challenges others face – and only see “strangeness,” said a patient at OSH who shared his experiences during the ceremony.
“How many people have lived and died within these walls and felt the same as I feel? How many have died with the hope that their cry would not go unheard? We are not numbers. We are human beings who have a disease of the mind, and we feel just as much as you,” said the patient who asked not to be identified. “Too often, the world outside sees only strangeness. But we know inside every delusion is a search for meaning. Inside every hallucination a story waits to be told. Inside every voice there is a longing to be heard.”
OSH operated a crematorium until 1973 and became the custodian of the unclaimed cremains of nearly 3,500 people who died while living or working at OSH, Oregon State Tuberculosis Hospital, Mid-Columbia Hospital, Dammasch State Hospital, Deaconess Hospital, Oregon State Penitentiary and Fairview Training Center.
Since 2014, the cremains of 1,300, from the total of nearly 3,500, people have been identified and returned to families through the work of staff and volunteers. Efforts continue to identify the closest living relatives of those whose cremains remain unclaimed through sites like findagrave.com.
Some who come forward over the years may not have direct familial ties to the person they claim, but were driven by their value of family, connection and the opportunity to provide closure for someone else.
A work email about the cremains directory led Becky Fisher, an OSH employee, to see if her great aunt’s brother-in-law, Richard Bullivant happened to be listed. He was. In doing her own family research, she had come across Bullivant and the fact that he died in Salem had stuck with her.
After efforts to find Bullivant’s living relatives were unsuccessful, she and her brother agreed to request Bullivant’s remains. They plan to bury him in northern Idaho near his siblings.
“Nobody wanted him, and after working at OSH and understanding people who have alienated their family through mental illness, which they have no control over, it just seemed sad to have him just remain at OSH as unclaimed,” she said. “If I can do a little bit to connect one set of cremains to their family – it’s worthwhile.”
Dave Baden, Oregon Health Authority deputy director of policy and programs, spoke at the ceremony about OHA’s ongoing work to improve behavioral health services across the state.
“Any gaps in the behavioral health continuum can impact the lives of Oregon’s most vulnerable population,” Baden said. “To help address the ongoing needs, under Governor Kotek’s leadership, the Oregon Legislature prioritized funding more behavioral health housing options, incentives for growing the workforce and strengthening programs in the community. This funding will allow for more community treatment capacity and allow for better care in the places where people live in Oregon.”
After the ceremony, family members in attendance claimed their relatives’ ashes, along with a rubbing of their relative’s name and the original copper canister that interred their ashes. Families identified each year have the option to receive the items by mail or pick-up at the ceremony.
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The OSH Cremains Memorial opened on the OSH Salem campus in 2014 and is one of 50 public art pieces recognized this year during the state’s 50th anniversary celebration of Oregon’s Percent for Art in Public Places Program.
The annual ceremony is held at the OSH Cremains Memorial, which opened in 2014 to respectfully inter the cremains. The memorial is one of 50 public art pieces recognized this year during the state’s 50th anniversary celebration of Oregon’s Percent for Art in Public Places Program. The program requires that 1% of direct construction costs for new or remodeled state buildings be used to purchase or commission artwork.