thedrifter
07-24-03, 01:12 PM
July 23, 2003, 7:42PM
Veteran laid to rest 5 years after her murder
By ALLAN TURNER
Copyright 2003 Houston Chronicle
http://images.chron.com/content/news/photos/03/07/23/worleystory.jpg
James Nielsen / Special to the Chronicle
A horse-drawn caisson arrives for the funeral service for homeless veteran Joyce Edele Worley at the Houston National Cemetery today.
Under a somber, cloud-heavy sky this morning, a white horse and black wagon rounded a curve into the cemetery. Mourners lined the road as the caisson and its burden -- the flag-draped coffin of two-time military veteran Joyce Worley -- eased to a stop. Then it began to rain.
If poetic or melodramatic, one could say the sky wept.
Few of the mourners did.
They were strangers -- unknown to Worley, the family that rejected her or the teen-age stepson who five years ago killed her with a shotgun near their Polk County home.
Worley, a 54-year-old Livingston nurse, became the first female military veteran buried at Houston National Cemetery as part of a free funeral program for homeless vets sponsored by Dignity Memorial Funeral Providers.
The 20-minute graveside service featured an honor guard of rifle-bearing members of the Veterans of Foreign Wars. Also in attendance were members of the American Legion, Disabled American Veterans Members, Women Marines Association and representatives of the Department of Veterans Affairs.
A single wreath of carnations and other flowers served as a backdrop to Worley's pewter-colored metal coffin. A bouquet of six blood-red roses had been thrust into a handle; a small grouping of carnations lay on the concrete floor at the coffin's side.
Judy Anderson of the Women Marines Association's Texas Gulf Chapter lauded Worley for being one of 2 million women who had served her country.
"Once a Marine, always a Marine," Anderson told the gathering. "There's no barrier in time and place or rank and station. Joyce, we are proud to call you a Marine."
The Rev. Floyd Perry of Lakewood Church offered the eulogy, assuring Worley's absent family that she had been "laid to rest with honor."
After a recording of "Taps" was played, veteran Carmen Gonzales provided the single live vocal offering.
"She was one heck of a lady -- Army and Marine Corps," Gonzalez intoned before launching a cappella into the Marine Corps Hymn. "I wish I had had the opportunity to meet you. I'll make sure we send you off right."
Marvin Stearns, representing VFW's District 4, noted that funerals for homeless veterans are particularly poignant.
"We're here whenever they ask for us," he said. "It's the same for a general or for a homeless man. But it is more difficult when it's the homeless -- to know that they suffered again."
Bob Brunat, location manger of the Dignity Memorial funeral home that provided the service, said 24 veterans have been buried in Houston since the program began two years ago.
Brunat, who served two decades in the Army, said the program was created by the funeral home's owner, Service Corp. International, to ensure that those who served in the military were not faced with the indignity of a pauper's burial.
The program began in St. Louis and is gradually being implemented at SCI funeral homes in other states. More than 150 veterans have been buried through the program nationwide.
A committee comprising veterans and social service providers determine who is eligible for the program, Brunat said. "Homeless doesn't necessarily mean you don't have any family," he said. "It may just be that you haven't seen them in 30 or 40 years."
Worley, who served in the Marine Corps in 1967 and 1968 and in the Army in 1984 and 1985, had to wait five years for her funeral.
Authorities ordered her remains held as evidence until her killer had exhausted his legal appeals. "All we had left were a few bones," said Polk County District Attorney John Holleman. "That was very important evidence."
Worley's remains were released for burial in May, but no one claimed them. Polk County sheriff's officials contacted Worley's brother in Ohio, but he expressed no interest in providing a burial.
Worley was shot to death in 1998. Sheriff's Lt. Phillip Walker said blood was found near her rural Polk County home after her common-law husband, Rudy Dimas, reported her missing.
A neighbor told investigators he had walked toward the family's mobile home after hearing gunshots, then saw Worley's teen-age stepson, Chon Dimas, pouring gasoline on a roaring bonfire.
Authorities later found human bone fragments and teeth identified as Worley's in the ashes.
Chon Dimas is serving 75 years in prison after being convicted of murder. He will be eligible for parole in 25 years.
Chronicle reporter Betty Martin contributed to this story.
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/front/2008663
Sempers,
Roger
:marine:
She is with Family Now.......
May She Rest In Peace
Veteran laid to rest 5 years after her murder
By ALLAN TURNER
Copyright 2003 Houston Chronicle
http://images.chron.com/content/news/photos/03/07/23/worleystory.jpg
James Nielsen / Special to the Chronicle
A horse-drawn caisson arrives for the funeral service for homeless veteran Joyce Edele Worley at the Houston National Cemetery today.
Under a somber, cloud-heavy sky this morning, a white horse and black wagon rounded a curve into the cemetery. Mourners lined the road as the caisson and its burden -- the flag-draped coffin of two-time military veteran Joyce Worley -- eased to a stop. Then it began to rain.
If poetic or melodramatic, one could say the sky wept.
Few of the mourners did.
They were strangers -- unknown to Worley, the family that rejected her or the teen-age stepson who five years ago killed her with a shotgun near their Polk County home.
Worley, a 54-year-old Livingston nurse, became the first female military veteran buried at Houston National Cemetery as part of a free funeral program for homeless vets sponsored by Dignity Memorial Funeral Providers.
The 20-minute graveside service featured an honor guard of rifle-bearing members of the Veterans of Foreign Wars. Also in attendance were members of the American Legion, Disabled American Veterans Members, Women Marines Association and representatives of the Department of Veterans Affairs.
A single wreath of carnations and other flowers served as a backdrop to Worley's pewter-colored metal coffin. A bouquet of six blood-red roses had been thrust into a handle; a small grouping of carnations lay on the concrete floor at the coffin's side.
Judy Anderson of the Women Marines Association's Texas Gulf Chapter lauded Worley for being one of 2 million women who had served her country.
"Once a Marine, always a Marine," Anderson told the gathering. "There's no barrier in time and place or rank and station. Joyce, we are proud to call you a Marine."
The Rev. Floyd Perry of Lakewood Church offered the eulogy, assuring Worley's absent family that she had been "laid to rest with honor."
After a recording of "Taps" was played, veteran Carmen Gonzales provided the single live vocal offering.
"She was one heck of a lady -- Army and Marine Corps," Gonzalez intoned before launching a cappella into the Marine Corps Hymn. "I wish I had had the opportunity to meet you. I'll make sure we send you off right."
Marvin Stearns, representing VFW's District 4, noted that funerals for homeless veterans are particularly poignant.
"We're here whenever they ask for us," he said. "It's the same for a general or for a homeless man. But it is more difficult when it's the homeless -- to know that they suffered again."
Bob Brunat, location manger of the Dignity Memorial funeral home that provided the service, said 24 veterans have been buried in Houston since the program began two years ago.
Brunat, who served two decades in the Army, said the program was created by the funeral home's owner, Service Corp. International, to ensure that those who served in the military were not faced with the indignity of a pauper's burial.
The program began in St. Louis and is gradually being implemented at SCI funeral homes in other states. More than 150 veterans have been buried through the program nationwide.
A committee comprising veterans and social service providers determine who is eligible for the program, Brunat said. "Homeless doesn't necessarily mean you don't have any family," he said. "It may just be that you haven't seen them in 30 or 40 years."
Worley, who served in the Marine Corps in 1967 and 1968 and in the Army in 1984 and 1985, had to wait five years for her funeral.
Authorities ordered her remains held as evidence until her killer had exhausted his legal appeals. "All we had left were a few bones," said Polk County District Attorney John Holleman. "That was very important evidence."
Worley's remains were released for burial in May, but no one claimed them. Polk County sheriff's officials contacted Worley's brother in Ohio, but he expressed no interest in providing a burial.
Worley was shot to death in 1998. Sheriff's Lt. Phillip Walker said blood was found near her rural Polk County home after her common-law husband, Rudy Dimas, reported her missing.
A neighbor told investigators he had walked toward the family's mobile home after hearing gunshots, then saw Worley's teen-age stepson, Chon Dimas, pouring gasoline on a roaring bonfire.
Authorities later found human bone fragments and teeth identified as Worley's in the ashes.
Chon Dimas is serving 75 years in prison after being convicted of murder. He will be eligible for parole in 25 years.
Chronicle reporter Betty Martin contributed to this story.
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/front/2008663
Sempers,
Roger
:marine:
She is with Family Now.......
May She Rest In Peace