On the list of extracurricular activities for high school boys – from sports to academic clubs, marching bands and choir - becoming pallbearers at funerals is likely rare. But at the University of Detroit Jesuit High School and Academy, a school activity of a different kind serves the dearly departed as a mission with a noble cause.
“It started a number of years ago,” said John Dawson, director of campus ministry and service at U. of D. Jesuit, in an interview with Military.com. “There was a need in our community to help bury the dead, especially homeless military veterans who had no family to speak of and no one to give them dignity in death.”
Every year, the school puts out a call at the all-boys Catholic school in Detroit, Michigan, to volunteer as pallbearers for military veterans who died as homeless individuals in the region.
“Many homeless veterans pass away without a next of kin. Their funerals are small or often times unattended. That is where these students step in,” Dawson said. “We teach our students that they can be of service to the veteran community in a meaningful way, just by showing they care.”
Established in 1877, the University of Detroit Jesuit High School and Academy is a Catholic high school dedicated to providing college preparatory instruction for college-bound young men. With an enrollment topping 700 students, the pallbearer ministry at the school is small.
“We have about seven or eight volunteers at any given time during the school year,” said Dawson. “And these services are mostly on weekdays, during the school day. We’ll get a call from a funeral home in need of assistance, and we gather a group of our student volunteers, and we go.”
Wearing formal Catholic school attire and trained in proper funeral protocol, the students carry the caskets with reverence. They stand silently, with somber faces, and show respect and compassion to the men and women who served our country. This act of service is central to U. of D. Jesuit’s overall academic mission -- service to others, justice, and respect for human life.
Still, the process is long. Well before the school is contacted by a funeral home, there’s a trace of their civilian roots to identify any next of kin, and a significant search for a military veteran’s service records while enlisted. If there are no living family members who can be verified, the funeral home makes contact with the pallbearer ministry, typically just once or twice a year.
“We had a few funerals last year, but overall it’s a very difficult journey to trace these veterans,” said Dawson. “And sometimes, even if they have family, there are no funds to bury them. Our volunteer program answers the call at no cost.”
According to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), in its annual Point-in-Time (PIT) Count, an estimated one in 500 people in the United States is homeless. HUD’s 2024 count recorded a total of 771,480 homeless adults in the U.S., with veterans making up 5 percent of the tally.
But statistics from the National Institutes of Health paint a more grim picture. Approximately 15 homeless veterans die on the streets in the U.S. each day, and roughly 16.3 percent of homeless veterans die prematurely compared to 6.1 percent of housed veterans.
HUD attributes the increase in homelessness to a shortage of affordable housing, rising inflation, stagnant wages, and natural disasters. U. of D. Jesuit’s pallbearer ministry teaches students about how a person can go from serving the country to living on the streets and then dying alone.
“But this mission is not a class assignment. It’s a voluntary commitment by our students to learn and serve,” said Dawson. “We teach them about military customs and tradition, how to move, how to carry a casket, so they understand the weight of their responsibility.”
The experience leaves a lasting impact on the students involved. After the funerals are over, and their service is complete, there’s time to reflect and remember the names and faces of the men and women they helped lay to rest.
“We will serve the community as best we can as a school,” Dawson tells Military.com. “We will happily go above and beyond.”
