Donate to Joe's Memorial and Final Arrangements

My name is Dave Burt. My younger brother, Joe, passed away around 12:30am on January 3, 2025. The purpose of this gofundme is to raise enough for his cremation, memorial service, and related expenses.

On January 3rd, 2025 I received the sad news from my aunt that Joe had passed. She got a phone call around 1:00am from the Franklin County Deputy Coroner. I am floored, but I'll need to stay focused over the next few weeks to try and take care of legal affairs. I am not sure of the exact cause of death yet. So far what I know is that Joe was fine one moment, then started having severe stomach pains so the facility he was in rushed him to the ER at Frankfort Regional Medical Center, where he died while in the ICU. For full disclosure, Joe has had a history of drug use since he was a teenager and the Deputy Coroner suspects that is the cause of death. He was just about to serve out his state sentence and was staying in a halfway house to transition out. The Deputy Coroner advised that it could be up to 3 months before we know the results of the toxicology report due to backlog and in the meantime local police are conducting their own investigation.

Joe had no savings, no insurance, and very few personal possessions. He had no end-of-life directives such as a will on file. Therefore, I am spearheading the effort to take care of obligations with the County Coroner's Office as well as have a proper end-of-life memorial service for him. After speaking with a local funeral home (the same one that handled my mom's memorial service just over 5 years ago), they have recommended a cremation as the most cost-effective method of handling. The total cost for the cremation itself would be just under $1,200 USD. I am also raising some additional funds for legal fees with the cremation process, the memorial service, and incidental expenses such as newspaper obituary postings. My family is not well off by any means, so any donation is humbly appreciated.

The Coroner's Office is a small one in terms of morgue storage space, so they have requested that Joe's body be processed as soon as possible. That is the reason for the short date on this fundraiser. Of course the Coroner is understanding that raising money takes time, but they would like to have him properly taken care of sooner rather than later. I will reach out to those who express interest in attending the memorial service with the actual date.

Please reach out to me if I can answer questions regarding this fundraiser and again thank you in advance for any contribution.