92-Year-Old Bergen County Woman Who Died Alone Will Get Proper Service, Burial This Week

BERGEN COUNTY, NJ — After a 92-year-old woman died alone in a nursing home in July, Bergen County residents tried to help a funeral home find relatives to set her to rest.

Residents from around the area donated money so that she'd get a proper burial — and she'll be buried later this week, according to the funeral home.

Carmela Polimeni of Leonia died at CareOne at Cresskill on July 17. The funeral home, Eternity Funeral Services in Englewood, posted a legal notice in local media in August saying, "Despite efforts to locate next of kin or other legal representatives, no one has come forward to claim the body."

Residents around the area took to Facebook to try to find relatives or provide information.

One probate researcher even contacted Patch to say he had passed along information about possible relatives to the funeral home, but didn't know if the information was useful.

By the end of August, the funeral home received around $6,000 in donations for a burial, according to their website.

"Rest in Peace Carmela," wrote a woman on the memorial website, after donating $50. " You may have been forgotten over the last few years, but you are being remembered now. All lives matter and now that you are in a better place, with those that went before — you will no longer be alone."

"Your story brought out the best in mankind. You are never alone," wrote Tom Juiliano.

Last month, the funeral home had said that Polimeni had a brother who died more than 20 years ago, who may have had a child. But no one had visited Polimeni in more than 20 years. The home had phone numbers from friends from years ago, but couldn't reach them.

She is not alone in being alone. One commenter on social media noted that many nursing homes have residents who have lived a long life, but had few or no remaining relatives in their area to visit them.

Details About Services

A small vigil was held for Polimeni last week. And as of Wednesday, more than $6,060 had been donated for services.

Eternity is planning services for Polimeni later this week.

Visitation will be this Wednesday and Thursday, with Mass Thursday.

Burial will be in Sparkill, N.Y. Find out more here.