Community Bids Goodbye to Jeremiah Michael

Police officers, local residents and members of the prolife community gathered Thursday to honor the life Jeremiah Michael, the name given to an abandoned infant that was found dead at a Chicago Ridge recycling center earlier this month.

People appeared shocked at the smallness of the white casket, as it was carried from a hearse before being placed on a gurney and wheeled into Our Lady of the Ridge.

In a voice ragged with emotion, Rev. Wayne Svida, pastor of the Chicago Ridge parish, noted the way the infant entered the community – nameless and friendless – and how he now had a name and 100 friends who showed up for his funeral.

“As we gather today, we bury an infant, Jeremiah Michael, not a name given by his parents but given by a community,” Fr. Svida said, “a person who didn’t get to know anybody, but has brought us here today to remember.”

Authorities believe that the baby was born seven days before his body was discovered at Resource Management in Chicago Ridge, based on preliminary findings of an autopsy conducted by the Cook County Medical Examiner’s office.

Although born premature, authorities said that the infant could have survived with proper medical attention.

Fr. Svida called the discovery of the baby’s body inside a cooler was “something none of us never want to see.”

“Let us mourn him and all children who have died before their time,” he said, “from abuse and from any other forms of wrong doing directed towards them.”

The priest also spoke of Illinois’s Safe Haven Law, that allows parents to leave infants up to 30 days old in the arms of staff at any firehouse, police station, campus security station, hospital or medical center, no questions asked.

“We as people, as human beings, need to stand up for children,” Fr. Svida said. “We need to stand up for those who can’t speak for themselves. We are their voices, we are their caregivers, and we are here to give them life.”

Rest In His Arms, a non-profit group that provides funerals and burials for abandoned babies, planned Thursday’s funeral for Jeremiah Michael. The infant was buried at Holy Sepulchre Cemetery.

The organization’s president, Susan Walker, held a stuffed dog with a bow tied around its neck from her daughter, Gracie.

“She wanted to make sure that Jeremiah had a toy to keep him company,” Walker said.

Donations are being accepted in Jeremiah Michael’s name at the following charities:

• Rest In His Arms
• Save Abandoned Babies Foundation
• The Women’s Centers of Greater Chicagoland