Story by Rick Hiduk / Photos provided by Manatee County Sheriff’s Office
Anna Bahr, the Pennsylvania woman whose ashes were found in the backyard of a home in Bradenton, FL, will finally join her husband in eternal rest.
A caretaker of the home discovered a weathered cardboard box along a fence line on Dec. 6 and found an urn and piece of paper inside explaining that the ashes were the cremated remains of Anna, who died in October 2008 at 91 of natural causes.
The Manatee County Sheriff’s Office took possession of the ashes, which had initially been stored in a shed near the property. Manatee County’s property and evidence processor Renee Kaczmarek was able to locate Anna’s relatives. Kaczmarek worked with veteran affairs director Peter Miller in Bradford County, PA to arrange for the transportation of the remains to Sylvania where Anna’s husband and World War I veteran, Lewis Bahr, is interred.
Renee also reached out to The Good Earth Creamatory, which offered to donate a new urn. The Northern Tier Veterans Group in Pennsylvania will cover the cost of burial and a headstone, and veterans services will see to it that she has a proper burial alongside her husband.
Miller was cited for his efforts during a meeting of the Bradford County Commissioners on Dec. 19.