Source: Chicago Tribune
On May 26, 2005 the Chicago Tribune reported, "if he died today, there would be no one to bury William Nicholas. That's why Nicholas turned out Wednesday to honor 140 people whose bodies lie in pauper's graves after sitting unclaimed for months in the Cook Country medical examiner's office. Nicholas, who said he has been homeless 'off and on for 25 years,' followed along carefully during the reading of those names--11 of whom were remembered only as 'Unknown'--during the 20th annual Interfaith Memorial Observance for Indigent Persons. The 50-minute service was held at the First United Methodist Church in the Loop. About 100 people attended... Everyone named was buried between June 2004 and April. How they were known in life varied wildly, but the people shared a common destination: plywood coffins in the ground at Homewood Memorial Gardens, in the south suburbs."