A funeral home director believes the descendants of a man whose 87-year-old urn was found on rocks by the Columbia River could be living in B.C.
Earlier this week, Tom Preston of Hughes-Ransom Mortuary was contacted by a 17-year-old boy after he discovered a bronze-like container while out taking pictures with a friend in Warrenton, Oregon. Hoping to return the urn to relatives, the teenager reached out to Preston for help.
The funeral home director has since been tracking down information about who the remains belonged to and where the urn came from.
"It's just such an incredible mystery how this gentleman's urn came to be," Preston told ctvbc.ca.
Preston suspects the tightly sealed container could have washed ashore, but wonders how.
"Did it wash out of a cemetery?" he asked.
Engraved on the urn is "William George Kennedy 1870 – 1925."
Preston says he has learned Kennedy was born in Canterbury, England, but came to Nelson, B.C. in 1911. He added that three of the man's four children, named Cecil, William and Harold, were also B.C. residents, so living relatives of Kennedy could still be in the province.
Preston is trying to return the urn to family members, and says they can contact him at 503-325-2535.
