W. L. Case And Company Funeral

During a Monday, April 2, Saginaw City Council meeting, members approved the building located at 409 Adams St., for an Obsolete Property Rehabilitation Property (OPRA) Exemption Certificate. The certificate freezes the building's taxable value for 10 years. The building's owner paid nearly $13,000 in property taxes in 2017, according to property records.The building was constructed in the 1920's and is owned by David Case, owner of W.L. Case and Company Funeral Homes. The two-story brick structure had been used as a funeral home up until the business moved to a new location four years ago. Since the move, the building has been used for storage.Case has an agreement with Ann Arbor Builders and Saginaw Township-based CASPCO, LLC to redevelop the building.There are plans to repair the exterior brick and wood facade and repaint the structure as needed. New plumbing, electrical, mechanical systems and all work to bring the building up to current building codes would also take place, according to city documents.A handful of architectural elements of the building will remain in place, including its 10-foot ceilings and its staircases.Ann Arbor Builders holds properties in Old Town, including apartment buildings located at 110 and 112  N. Michigan Ave.Alex de Perry, owner of Ann Arbor Builders, said the company restored ceilings, windows, kitchens, bathrooms, electrical and plumbing in those buildings."We realized there's a market for people who want to live downtown in nice apartments," de Perry said.He said the 12 units on Adams Street will feature a two bedroom-two bathroom layout and will start at $1,000 per month.Work on the building is scheduled to begin in September 2018 and be completed by December 2019.The new apartments will be joining other complexes like the David Strouse properties in Old Town Saginaw.Ken Teske, a property manager for Century 21, said apartments in Old Town that he manages are "booked up."Teske said he manages David Strouse properties which holds 20 apartments filled with tenants who are 22-28 years ...

He wants to reunite families with the remains."I feel it's important to respect the dead," said Saginaw County Sheriff William Federspiel.Earlier this year, city workers surveyed the building formerly known as the Elsie Black Funeral Home for demolition. Inside, they found the cremated remains of 13 people.The oldest cremains date to 1983. The most recent are from 2008."We don't typically come across human remains when doing our demolitions," said John Stemple, Saginaw's chief building inspector. "It was important to secure the remains somewhere safe."Stemple's office asked Federspiel just before Christmas to aid them in reuniting the remains with family members. The sheriff contacted local media and, shortly after, some calls came in."Two people have since called and said that they had no idea that their loved one was there," he said.The remains of two, Michael Hanserd and Gwendolyn Wicker, were set to be returned to family in a ceremony Wednesday morning at Saginaw City Hall.Hanserd died while incarcerated in 2008. His daughter never knew what happened to his body until she saw the recent news reports, Federspiel said.Wicker's remains were claimed by her son, who was in jail when she died in 1999 and thought his siblings had taken care of her arrangements, the sheriff said.Should the rest of the cremains go unclaimed, a pauper's grave will be prepared for them, Federspiel said."We will find a fitting place that will properly respect these lost souls, so to speak," he said. "So at least the people's names are listed somewhere and they'll have a proper burial."To claim a loved one's ashes, contact the Saginaw County Sheriff's Office at 989-790-5456 and have proof of kinship, such as a death or birth certificate, Federspiel said.The Elsie Black Funeral Home on 1106 N. Sixth at Norman closed around five or so years ago, Stemple said. The property foreclosed in early 2017 and was transferred to Saginaw County.David Case, funeral director for W. L. Case and Company Funeral Homes, said unclaimed remains were long a problem in his field until it w...