UND's Deeded Body Program to host interment service on Oct. 1

GRAND FORKS, N.D.—An interment ceremony honoring the memory of people who donated their bodies for the benefit of medical education will take place this week at the University of North Dakota School of Medicine & Health Sciences (SMHS) plot at Memorial Park Cemetery in Grand Forks.

The service begins at 2:30 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 1, as the School pays respect and tribute to donors of the School’s Deeded Body Program.

“This service is a way to give thanks to both the donors and their families, and a way to express honor for the gift we have been given through their donation,” said Mandy Meyer, Ph.D., associate professor in the departments of Occupational Therapy and Biomedical Sciences and director of the Deeded Body Program at the SMHS. “The education these individuals have given is invaluable to our future health care providers; they truly teach students about the form of the human body and in many ways are students’ first patients.”

The School conducts the interment ceremony once every three years to inter the cremated remains of donors who have chosen to be interred in the UND School of Medicine & Health Sciences plot. Family members of donors being interred have been invited, as have the School’s faculty, staff, and students, who often look forward to the opportunity to show their respect and appreciation for the donors who have contributed to their learning and scholarship.

Along with musical performances by SMHS students, Meyer and Meghan Rodriquez, an alumna of the School’s graduate program in biomedical sciences, will speak from a faculty perspective about the value and significance of the Deeded Body Program. UND clergy participating in the service include Chad Brucklacher of Christus Rex Lutheran Campus Center and Luke Meyer of St. Thomas Aquinas Newman Center. Susan Jeno, Ph.D., professor in the SMHS Department of Physical Therapy, will give closing remarks.

To attend the service, which is open to the public, turn east off of Columbia Rd. onto 10th Ave North and proceed to the Memorial Park entrance. Signs will be posted to direct participants to the exact location.

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Brian James Schill
Director, Office of Alumni & Community Relations
University of North Dakota School of Medicine & Health Sciences
701.777.2733 direct | 701.777.4305 office
brian.schill@UND.edu  |  www.und.edu