‘They’re somebody’s somebody’: Vigil attendees remember Iron County residents who died while homeless

CEDAR CITY — Just over one dozen people gathered at Cedar City’s Main Street park on Tuesday night for a solemn vigil to observe “Homeless Persons Memorial Day.”

Vigil attendees remember local homeless residents who died over the past year during “Homeless Persons Memorial Day” ceremony, Cedar City, Utah, Dec. 21, 2021 | Photo by Jeff Richards, St. George News / Cedar City News

Remembered by name during the half-hour ceremony were 10 Iron County residents who died over the past year while experiencing homelessness.

“This is tough,” said Iron County Care and Share director Peggy Green as she welcomed those in attendance, “I can remember a year when we lost one person, and I thought that was the worst thing in the world. And this year, we lost 11. We’ve just lost somebody in the last 48 hours.”

“It keeps happening. And we need it to stop,” Green added. “We need to make sure that there is housing and there is support for everybody in our community. It’s a human right. It’s not a luxury.”

The annual event is observed in communities across the country on the night of the winter solstice, Green noted.

Iron County Care and Share director Peggy Green speaks during “Homeless Persons Memorial Day” ceremony, Cedar City, Utah, Dec. 21, 2021 | Photo by Jeff Richards, St. George News / Cedar City News

“They did choose this night, which is the longest night of winter, in hopes that it would be chilly so that it would happily remind everybody that we’re standing around at a vigil for 15 minutes,” she said. “And there are people who are forced to conduct their lives in this and much worse.”

James Jetton, shelter manager for Iron County Care and Share, said that on average, approximately 75 to 100 people in Iron County are experiencing homelessness at any given time.

“Every year, our shelter serves about 400 individual people, supplying them with food, shelter safety and case management,” Jetton said, adding that local emergency and domestic violence shelters are consistently operating at capacity. 

“Meaning that, in many situations, we don’t have a choice in turning people away,” he said. “We do everything we can to get them inside, safe, warm, comfortable and fed.”

“Homelessness in Iron County is largely hidden from view,” Jetton added. “It lives in the canyon. It lives in storage facilities and dwellings without electricity, running water or heat. It exists in freezing temperatures and inhospitable conditions. And it disconnects people in our community from resources and from their community.”

Iron County Care and Share shelter manager James Jetton speaks during “Homeless Persons Memorial Day” ceremony, Cedar City, Utah, Dec. 21, 2021 | Photo by Jeff Richards, St. George News / Cedar City News

Jetton then read aloud the names of the 10 Iron County homeless residents who died in the past year: Wayne Wahler, Heather North, Tim Wright, Cowboy Ivin, Robert White, “Popeye” Paul Aston, Danny Hunt, Thomas Wurm, Danny Jackson and Carvell Patten.

Wahler and Jackson were both military veterans, he added. 

Additionally, Jetton noted there were two other individuals whose names would have been added to the list if they had been able to be identified.

After the names were read, some of the attendees took a few moments to share remembrances.

Attendee Lee Larson spoke about Aston, whose nickname was “Popeye.”

Larson said Aston’s most prized possession was an old quilt made out of slacks from the 1930s and 1940s, that his grandmother had made for him. He carried it everywhere he went, she said.

“When he passed away, and he had a horrible death, he had to lay there and just die without family or anything else,” Larson said before tearfully adding that her own son was also numbered among the names on the list.

“They need to have a name. They need to have a face so that people know these are people. These are somebody’s somebody. And one of those somebodies, sorry, was my son.”

Speaking about Wahler, Jetton said he first got to know the Army veteran when he worked as his case manager at the shelter nearly three years ago. 

“Wayne was intelligent. He was fiercely independent and he had a great sense of humor,” Jetton said, adding that Wahler enjoyed playing chess and teaching others how to play the game.

Jetton also talked about White, who he said lived in a tent up the canyon year-round.

Vigil attendees remember local homeless residents who died over the past year during “Homeless Persons Memorial Day” ceremony, Cedar City, Utah, Dec. 21, 2021 | Photo by Jeff Richards, St. George News / Cedar City News

“Generally, we would sit and drink coffee, talk about the world,” Jetton said. “He was intelligent and friendly. He loved to tell stories.”

“He told me once, and this really sticks out to me, that he just couldn’t live near other people as much as he might actually like some of them.”

“Robert found his solitary life in the canyon interrupted after a visit to the ER when he was informed that he had terminal cancer and needed to go into hospice immediately,” Jetton said, adding that White passed away soon afterward, before he could be placed in a care facility.

The U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness estimates that 15,600 people annually in the United States die while experiencing homelessness, Jetton noted.

“We know that’s probably a conservative number,” he said. “We know it’s actually probably quite a bit higher.” 

“In Cedar City tonight, we are honoring now, 11 lives that were lost while on the streets, in our shelter or under our care,” Jetton said. “And on this night, we stand with communities across the country who have gathered to mourn those who have died and to renew our commitment to a world where housing should be a right and not a privilege.”

Green expressed her optimism that solutions can be found.

Vigil attendees remember local homeless residents who died over the past year during “Homeless Persons Memorial Day” ceremony, Cedar City, Utah, Dec. 21, 2021 | Photo by Jeff Richards, St. George News / Cedar City News

“In our community, I firmly believe that we can change things,” she said. “I firmly believe that we can, and that we’ll do it together. No one organization, no one person, can do this. We have to do it collectively. And I do, again, I do believe it can happen.”

“We remember that there are communities across our nation doing the same thing we are tonight,” Green added.

Although Tuesday’s event marked Cedar City’s first time participating in the nationwide “Homeless Persons Memorial Day,” the event, which is promoted by multiple organizations and homeless advocacy groups, is now in its 31st year. For more information, click here.

In a similar ceremony at Salt Lake City’s Pioneer Park Tuesday night, Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson noted that 117 homeless Utahns had lost their lives during 2021. She also read a proclamation from Gov. Spencer Cox that designated Dec. 21 as “Homeless Persons Memorial Day,” KSL reported.

For more information on how to help, visit Iron County Care and Share’s website or call 435-586-5142. The emergency shelter is located at 244 W. 900 North, Cedar City.

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Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2021, all rights reserved.

 

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