Hundreds gather to mourn infant found at recycling center

A baby’s thin wail rose from the front of the chapel midmorning Wednesday.

Later, the soft cries of other infants could be heard, along with the voices of toddlers and slightly older children.

The sounds weren’t disruptive, even though a funeral was taking place. Instead, they were a poignant, heart-tugging reminder of what brought almost 200 people together at Miller Funeral Home South and led about 250 to watch online.

It was the Service of Remembrance for Gabriel James Doe, conducted 22 days after his body was found discarded at a Sioux Falls recycling center. Whether the unidentified infant ever got to draw a single breath, whether he had the chance to signal his arrival in the world with a lusty cry, is unknown now and may never be known.

Jessica Remme, founder and president of The Oaklyn Foundation, chose the name for the lost little one. Gabriel means “God is my strength,” with the middle name of James standing for “one who follows.” The Oaklyn Foundation offers support to families who have suffered infant loss.

Questions around the remains of the full-term baby boy go unanswered, but the investigation is continuing, said Office Sam Clemens of the Sioux Falls Police Department. “We’re still waiting for the autopsy, for the coroner’s report,” he said Wednesday.

Officials do not yet know how much time had elapsed between Gabriel’s birth and when he was found. He also had no information on the infant boy’s racial makeup.

Officers from the Police Department and its Honor Guard escorted the flower-covered casket holding Gabriel’s remains at the conclusion of the brief service. Other police officers attended, as did workers from Millennium Recycling.

Those who attended the service ranged in age from young mothers holding swaddled infants to elderly couples who could have claimed Gabriel as their great-grandchild. At the end of the service, a row of 40-something women wiped away final tears with already sodden tissues.

A man who offered his biker name, Broke, pulled into the funeral home parking lot on his motorcycle. He said he had felt drawn to the story of the abandoned infant, then when he heard a TV news report announcing the “perfect” name given to Gabriel, he decided to attend the funeral.

It was personal for him.

“A young lady that I’d been with had gotten pregnant, and I didn’t find out about it until many years later, and at the time I found out, she had also committed suicide,” Broke said, his voice growing raspy and tears welling in his eyes. “So I just want this little guy to say hi to my daughter or son. I know that … he’s got a dad too.”

Broke also said he was concerned about Gabriel’s mother. Not knowing her frame of mind, he said, he fears that she may feel like she has to do something drastic that will endanger her own life.

The Rev. John Helmueller of St. Michael Parish urged those at the service to pray for Gabriel’s parents.

“We don’t know what happened to Gabriel James. All we know is he was discovered in a trash can or was discarded. We pray not only for Gabriel, but we pray for the parents. We pray for anyone who was involved in the death of Gabriel. We pray for their conversion, we pray for their eternal happiness, to have hope that the parents and anyone involved in this would come to God.”

Helmueller joined Pastor Travis Remme of The Rock Community Church and Pastor Katherine Olson, a Lutheran who is pastor of spiritual care at Dow Rummel, as the officiants.

“There’s no more pain, there’s no more abandonment, there’s no more hurting — no more anything holding Gabriel back,” Remme said. “He no more has to worry about being forgotten about.”

He also told mourners that it is understandable if they have struggled with their own emotions since learning of Gabriel’s death and how he was found.

“You’re not alone. This is a very, very difficult thing to comprehend,” Remme said. “It’s OK if you’re upset; it’s OK if you’re sad. This is a precious life that was taken far too soon.”

God doesn’t measure time the way that people do, he continued. What Gabriel has accomplished in what people view as the briefest of seconds can have more impact than 75 years of living. People holding onto grudges or finding themselves estranged from family can use this to let go of bitterness.

“Let us rejoice that Gabriel is home and will never experience pain again; he will never be alone again,” Remme said. “And look at all of you who showed up that are making a promise today. We’re not going to forget Gabriel, we’re going to say his name out loud, we’re going to stop by and visit his gravestone.

“The next time a person sees a cardinal, a dragonfly or a dawn, that could be Gabriel paying a visit from heaven,” Remme said. “We really don’t know what exists beyond this life, and God might just be giving us a glimpse of heaven while we wait.”

Gabriel James was buried at Hills of Rest Cemetery, Section Z, in an area known as Babyland east of the main gate on 10th Street.