- April 25, 2005, 10:25PM
A final moment of glory for 2 vets who died alone
By ALLAN TURNER
Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle
Carlos Antonio Rios / Chronicle
Two veterans, Lincoln Arceneaux and Lars G. Eek, were laid to rest Monday at the Houston National Cemetery.
Lincoln Arceneaux and Lars G. Eek probably never met. But Monday morningthe grizzled Navy veterans shared one of life's most intimate rituals: their funeral.
In flag-draped coffins positioned end-to-end at the Houston National Cemetery chapel, the men were eulogized as patriots, sailors who respondedto their country's call at a time of need. The room was filled with highschool ROTC cadets and other well-meaning strangers.
"The red of our country's flag was made redder still by their heroism," the Veteran of Foreign Wars' Marvin Stearns intoned from the VFW burial ritual. "The white, more stainlessly pure by the motives which impelled them; and, in the starry field of our nation's glorious banner, the blue has been glorified by the service they gave for American ideals."
No one really knows if all of that is true. No one seemingly knew much about these men, who were laid to rest through a Dignity Memorial Funeral Providers' program for those without home, money or family.
Arceneaux, a World War II sailor, died of emphysema at his McGowen Street home last July 4 at age 78; Eek, who was a Korea-era veteran, died byhis own hand on Feb. 19, his 77th birthday. Unclaimed by relatives at the Harris County morgue, they were the 39th and 40th veterans interred through the burial program in Houston.
"There are struggles in life, and things don't always work out the waywe want them to," the Rev. Floyd Perry told those gathered. "But it's wonderful to know that if you serve the country, our country never forgets.That's why we're here today."
Rebuilt wrecked boat
Those who knew the men best were unaware they had been buried.
"Nobody knew Lars too well," said Duke Ducharme, a worker at Best Transportation Services, 3616 Old Spanish Trail, an address Eek listed as his home.
Ducharme, who has worked for Best more than two decades, recalled that Eek lived in a travel trailer on the company's lot for most of those years. He earned a living by selling plastic molding of the type used in mobile home construction. Some time back, Ducharme said, Eek bought and repaired a storm-wrecked sailboat. For the last five or six years, Eek livedon the craft at Kemah.
"He'd catch fish," Ducharme said, "and give them to the Chinese who rana restaurant. They, in turn, would feed him. He didn't have a hell of alot of money."
Eek, who supposedly has relatives in the Houston area, was an inveteratewriter of letters to the editor of the Houston Chronicle.
"Politicians are a lot like Johnson grass," he wrote in one advocating term limits. "The longer they stay, the harder it is to uproot them."
Ducharme said he frequently transported Eek to the Texas Medical Centerthe old man was loath to pay $10 for parking for treatment of prostate cancer.
"He had two or three remissions," Ducharme said. "After it came back thelast time, he said he wasn't going to go through all of that again."
La Porte police found Eek's body in his vehicle beneath the Fred Hartmanbridge. A suicide note contended he had no relatives, although employeesat Best Transportation Services recalled he had a daughter and an ex-wife.
If Eek dropped out of sight to die alone, Arceneaux faded from sight as his neighbors of 20 years watched.
"I think Mr. Arceneaux worked for the city of Houston," recalled Evelyn Green, who lives a few houses down from Arceneaux's old frame bungalow at3235 McGowen. "He's been sick the last four or five years. Something waswrong with his feet; he couldn't walk very good."
Green said she often brought holiday meals to Arceneaux, who lived alonealthough he was thought to have at least one daughter. Green worried about his health as he grew increasingly feeble.
"I thought he should go to a nursing home, but he didn't want to go," she said.
Other neighbors recalled the old man sitting on his front stoop, usuallyalone.
"He had a sense of humor. He was a cool dude," said Patrick Wiley, a painter hired to maintain the rental property.
"Are they just burying that old man?" Green added. "He died months ago."
21-gun salute and taps
Lynda Greene, chairwoman of the committee that selects veterans for freefunerals through the Dignity Memorial program, said she was not aware the men had homes.
But while the program primarily is meant to bury the "true homeless," italso can assist with "the severely indigent and forgotten." Both men, whose honorable service records qualified them for burial at the national cemetery, would have received pauper's burials at county expense had Dignity Memorial not intervened, she said.
As it was, Arceneaux and Eek had their final moment of glory.
There was a 21-gun salute. And taps. And the 23rd Psalm.
And identical wreaths of red and white carnations standing at the headof their plain metal coffins.
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As part of the Dignity Memorial Homeless Veterans Burial Program, a military service was held for Lars Eek and Lincoln Arceneaux at the Houston National Cemetery. Eek served with the US Navy from 1948 to1955. Arceneauxwas a World War II veteran.
Officials say Monday's services are a way to say thank you and show respect to veterans who might otherwise be forgotten.
The military graveside services included Taps, a flag presentation and a21-gun salute.
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Stamboom familie Pleijsier
1928 - 2005 (77 jaar)
Pleijsier, Willemine Caroline
: Adres
: Locatie
: Stad/Dorp
: Gemeente/Graafschap
: Staat/Provincie
: Land
: Nog niet ingesteld
