Benner cuts cremation cost to bring Bradley Verbeek home

Melissa (Verbeek) Godwin expects to hold her late brother’s ashes by Friday after a Fort Erie funeral home retrieved his remains from Toronto and agreed to cremate them for about $500, close to its own cost.

Bradley Verbeek died as a passenger in a Toronto motorcycle crash in May 1988 and lay buried as an unknown man for nearly 38 years until DNA testing confirmed his identity in June.

The cremation moves his family a step closer to burying him with his parents in London, Ont., though cemetery fees and the cost of an urn still sit beyond the money raised so far.

Godwin, a Ridgeway resident and Fort Erie Radio employee known on air as “Melissa the Admin,” thanked Ward 3 Councillor Darren Flagg, who manages Benner Funeral Services, with collecting her brother’s remains and bringing them to Fort Erie this week.

“He was generous enough to go get Bradley, and he brought him here yesterday,” Godwin told Fort Erie Radio on Tuesday.

She said Flagg reached out on his own and offered to guide her through the process.

Godwin still faces cemetery charges to open her parents’ burial space and an urn she estimates could cost about $600. A GoFundMe launched by her cousin Becky Thompson with an $11,000 goal has grown slowly, she said, but may not fully cover the costs.

“I have to do right by my brother, right?” said Godwin. “Even kind words, I don’t care if you can’t donate, just a kind word or share the post–that means everything to us.”

She plans to bury most of Bradley’s ashes with their parents in London, provided their burial space can hold another set of remains. Both parents died without learning what happened to their son.

Relatives will keep some of the ashes, and Godwin intends to hold a small private ceremony near the water.

“We loved fishing, my brother and I. We fished all the time,” Godwin said. “He was my best friend.”

Bradley was 19 when he walked away from an uncle’s home in London in December 1987 without his belongings or identification.

Ontario Provincial Police notified Godwin on June 16 that DNA from both sides of his family had confirmed the match.

Godwin said donations and messages have come from Fort Erie residents, local politicians, colleagues and strangers.

“I feel like this community has surrounded me,” she said.

She asked people who cannot give money to share the fundraiser instead.

“By Friday, I will have my brother, and our next journey will begin to bring him to London,” she said.

Stay Informed

Events, offers, contests, and breaking news, all delivered straight to your inbox.

Please enable JavaScript in your browser to complete this form.

Subscribe