Funeral for Unclaimed Veterans Provides Closure for Long Lost Brother

 

Photo by Marodi Media

“It is time to thank these men for their service and it’s reassuring to know they will rest in peace in this beautiful and tranquil National Cemetery.”

-          Larry Maggi, describing the December 2023 funeral service for three unclaimed veterans

The Thompson-Marodi Funeral Home hearse at the
 National Cemetery of the Alleghenies on December 27, 2023. Photo by Marodi Media

It was a cold December day when a silver hearse escorted by the Patriot Guard Riders of Pennsylvania pulled into the National Cemetery of the Alleghenies carrying the unclaimed urns of three local veterans.

The details of this memorable funeral from 2023 resurfaced Tuesday when my office received a call from Patrick Reynolds, a brother of one of the veterans.

“I’m calling about the funeral service you had for my brother Joseph E. Calhoun,” Reynolds said. “I just found out five months ago that he passed away.”

Reynolds of Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania, explained that he had lost touch with his half brother years ago and was shocked when he found a newspaper article that explained that he had died on December 14, 2021, at the age of 65. Calhoun, who served in the U.S. Marine Corp, was indigent and estranged, so when the county coroner couldn’t locate his family, his cremated remains were placed in the Washington Country crypt at Washington Cemetery.

Fortunately, Calhoun’s story didn’t end there and as a former Marine, a Washington County Commissioner, and a member of the American Legion, I was in the position to help when Miles Glotfelty called in August of 2023, asking for assistance in providing a military burial for Calhoun and two other veterans in the county crypt. The two other veterans were Aubrey Dallas Higginbotham, who died in 1995 and was a World War II veteran who served as a member of the Tuskegee Airmen, the first African American military aviators in the U.S. Army Air Forces; and his brother Louis Higginbotham, who died in 2001 and was a U.S. Army World War II veteran.  For the next four months, Glotfelty and I worked with the coroner’s office, the local courts, and the cemetery to have the interments approved. Tim Marodi of the Thompson-Marodi Funeral Home, Inc. in Bentleyville, donated a hearse for transportation to the cemetery; obtained American flags for the ceremony; and purchased personalized urns for their remains.

An honorable salute for Aubrey Dallas Higginbotham, Joseph Francis Calhoun,
 and Louis E. Higginbotham. Photo by Marodi Media

Glotfelty, military retired from Lone Pine, explained that the process started in March of 2023, when Lou Snodgrass of Washington told him that Calhoun, his good friend, was entitled to a military burial in at the national cemetery.

On December 27, 2023, after a lot of paperwork and planning, a service was held at the national cemetery for these three men who served our country well. Although Reynolds wishes he could have attended his brother’s funeral, he was happy to learn that military details representing the U.S. Air Forces, U.S. Army, and the U.S. Marine Corps participated in the service which was attended by families, friends, and several other military organizations and included a 21-gun salute. Snodgrass, who is now 94 years old, was presented with Calhoun’s flag at the funeral, has now offered to give it to the family. The flag will eventually be given to Calhoun’s son.

A member of the U.S. Marine Corps presents the flag of Joseph Francis Calhoun
 to his good friend Lou Snodgrass. Photo by Marodi Media 

Reynolds, who is a retired Sgt. Major with the U.S. Army, is impressed with all the work that was done on behalf of his brother.

“I was talking to my sister, and we are really appreciate all the work that the Commissioner, Mr. Glotfelty, Mr. Snodgrass, and Mr. Marodi did to make sure that my brothers remains were handled properly,” he said. “It’s overwhelming.”

Miles Glotfelty, myself & Tim Marodi after the funeral service at the national cemetery. Photo by Marodi Media

Glotfelty said on Wednesday that he is very happy with the way this story has turned out.

“It’s wonderful that we were able to make contact with Joe’s brother and get the flag back to his son,” he said.

To read more about this military funeral, click on this link to the Observer-Reporter’s story: https://www.observer-reporter.com/news/local-news/2023/dec/28/veterans-who-went-unclaimed-find-final-rest-at-national-cemetery-of-the-alleghenies/

Talking to a a fellow veteran after the funeral service. Photo by Marodi Media

The graves of Joseph Calhoun, Louise E. Higginbotham, and Aubrey Dallas Higginbotham photographed at the National Cemetery of the Alleghenies on January 15, 2026.


Larry Maggi is a retired trooper with Pennsylvania State Police, a former Washington County Sheriff, and a member of the Washington County Board of Commissioners, serving over 209,000 constituents in Southwestern Pennsylvania.