It's known to some as Pauper's Field, and it's estimated the remains of about 4,000 people are buried there. But for two Tucson-area women, it's a place they don't want forgotten.
Pima County's cemetery for the indigent is a 5-acre site next to a wash at the west end of Evergreen Cemetery, near Miracle Mile and North Oracle Road.
The cemetery is home to many "Unknowns" - infants on up to adults. It is home to illegal immigrants who have died in the desert, homeless who have died on the streets and people whose relatives have no means for their burial. The county is responsible for burying the bodies.
Friends Vickie Berg and Marilyn Reed first learned about Pauper's Field in November when they attended a service for illegal immigrants.
The women worked with the mentally ill in Minneapolis before moving here and are familiar with indigent burials. Berg was a court-appointed guardian for indigent mentally ill, and Reed was a director of nursing for a boarding and care facility for the mentally ill.
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After seeing trash strewn in the pauper's cemetery, Berg, 59, and Reed, 66, decided to clean it up.
The women and Reed's husband, Steven, 66, returned with garden tools and filled more than 15 garbage bags with trash.
As they walked among the dead, the women bonded with the graves. Berg talks to the "Baby Boy Unknown," the "Male Unknown" and the "Female Unknown."
While cleaning, Reed became familiar with the 28 rows of graves, headstones and markers at the pauper's cemetery. She plan to raise money to plant and maintain the desert landscape at the cemetery.
"I want the 'Unknown' to know that I care," Berg said. "I feel connected to the souls who are buried out there because of my past work in Minneapolis. I have been to funerals where I was the only one there. It is incredibly sad.
"I have the time to clean the cemetery, and I want to do it. These souls do have someone who cares, and I want them and their families to be at peace," Berg said.
Contact reporter Carmen Duarte at cduarte@azstarnet.com or 573-4104.
