Saying goodbye to estranged father who went unclaimed in Detroit morgue

By Steve Neavling
Motor City Muckraker

Kenneth Rouse wanted so much to be a part of his dad’s life.

Just three days before his estranged father died in a fire in Detroit, Rouse wrote his dad a heart-breaking message on Facebook.

On March 9, two days before his 53rd birthday, Kenneth Rouse, who has the same name as his son, died after his house caught fire Feb. 9 on Rangoon and Clifton. His roommate, Richard Holmes, also was killed.

For 10 days, Rouse’s badly charred body went unclaimed in the Wayne County morgue.

Now 25-year-old Kenneth, whose father raised him but disappeared about six years ago, is trying to raise money to pay for the funeral costs. He wants to cremate his father and spread some of the ashes in an Arkansas cemetery where the son’s paternal grandfather is buried.

With funeral expenses, Kenneth figures he’ll need a few thousand dollars.

If he has any left, he plans to use the money to help cover funeral expenses of other unclaimed bodies.

“This can help Kenny have some peace,” Cathy Ewald said of her son. “I can’t give him his father back, but at least he has this.”

Click here to donate. 

The family also is holding a fundraiser at Garden City Moose Lodge at 29137 Ford Rd., where local bands will perform. Check out the fundraiser’s Facebook page for more information.

“They were so close,” Ewald said of her son and his dad. “I don’t know what happened after that. That’s the hardest part – not knowing why.”

  Facebook, Fatality, father, fire, fundraiser, Funeral, Son

Steve Neavling

Steve Neavling lives and works in Detroit as an investigative journalist. His stories have uncovered corruption, led to arrests and reforms and prompted FBI investigations.

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