Decades after his death, a Bucks County man is being laid to rest after authorities were finally able to identify him following years of uncertainty. Jo Ciavaglia wrote about the local man for Philly Burbs.

Casimir Shynkaruk’s life journey finally came full circle after his remains went unclaimed in the Bucks County Coroner’s Office for 24 years.

His ashes were buried in a Ukrainian Catholic cemetery in Montgomery County together with his parents, Anastasia and John Iwan.

Not much was known about the life of a man who died alone in his Bensalem home in 1999 at 60. The thin case file at the coroner’s office stated that he was born in western Ukraine, was a widower and disabled.

His body was transferred to the Bucks County Coroner’s Office, which started a search for any next-of-kin. But with his parents long dead and no siblings or children, there was not enough to go on.

Earlier this month, Bucks County resident Michael Nasevich saw Shynkaruk’s name on the unclaimed dead list. He began searching genealogical websites for clues about the deceased, with no luck. But once he focused on his mother, he found she was buried at St. Mary’s Ukrainian Catholic Cemetery in Elkins Park.

He contacted the cemetery caretaker Walter Wyrsta, who agreed to bury the ashes for free.

Read more about Casimir Shynkaruk in Philly Burbs.

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