Pittsburgher works to relocate relative’s remains
'I'm going to fight the good fight, and this is going to be quite costly, but I don't care...I feel like it's something I have to do'
Ronna Scoratow is on a mission to relocate her great-uncle’s remains.
After Louis Scoratow died in 1974, his “ex-wife flew him to Ohio to be buried in the cemetery where her family had a plot,” Ronna Scoratow, 74, said.
According to cemetery records, Louis Scoratow was interred at Webster Township Cemetery in Scotch Ridge, Ohio.
“My uncle’s son calls it a cornfield,” Ronna Scoratow told the Chronicle. “He said he’s the only Jew in the cornfield.”
Louis Scoratow’s relatives are buried at Workmen’s Circle #45 Cemetery in Pittsburgh. Though 50 years have passed since his interment, the thought of Louis Scoratow’s separation from family began gnawing at Ronna Scoratow during a cemetery visit around the High Holidays. Unable to shake the feeling, she reached out to the Jewish Cemetery and Burial Association of Greater Pittsburgh and D’Alessandro Funeral Home & Crematory.
Ronna Scoratow explained the situation to Kelly Schwimer, JCBA’s executive director.
Speaking with the Chronicle, Schwimer said the organization is committed to “ensuring that every Jew has a proper and dignified Jewish burial according to Jewish law,” so when Ronna Scoratow phoned JCBA, “we wanted to accommodate the family and their wishes in every possible way to make this happen.”
Dustin D’Alessandro, supervisor of D’Alessandro Funeral Home & Crematory, said that he too spoke with Scoratow and that the process of relocating remains is “fairly simple.”
The only hang-up, Ronna Scoratow told the Chronicle, is a pending hearing.
D’Alessandro isn’t terribly concerned about the hearing. Once matters regarding the Dec. 17 meeting at the Wood County Court in Ohio are resolved, Louis Scoratow’s remains will be relocated, D’Alessandro said.
Ronna Scoratow said she’s filed the necessary paperwork, and despite continued legal hardships she’s “not giving up.”
“I’m going to fight the good fight, and this is going to be quite costly, but I don’t care,” she said. “I feel like it’s something I have to do.”
Her determination comes with a cost. Between court fees and expenses to open a grave, close a grave, purchase a plot and pay for another burial, Scoratow said she’s looking at a bill close to $15,000.
In lieu of traveling to Israel, she said, she’s spending her money on the aforementioned expenses.
Some people have told Scoratow that the burial endeavor is a “waste of money.” For those who expressed such views, she said, “it’s always about the money, not about what’s philosophically the right thing to do.”
“I love family,” Scoratow said. “I just feel like it’s important to bring my uncle home.”
Scoratow’s cousin, Florida resident Kim Scoratow, 71, said that when his father (Louis Scoratow) died nearly 50 years ago the family “did the best we could under the circumstances.”
Having the remains relocated to a Jewish cemetery is a “blessing,” Kim Scoratow added.
Ronna Scoratow said she’s looking forward to the process’s completion.
Until then, her message remains the same.
“Sometimes we have to act as a matter of conscience,” she said. “We have to step up and do the right thing for family, and that’s it. Yeah, for family, I think that’s the most important thing.” PJC
Adam Reinherz can be reached at areinherz@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.
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