The Worthington Times

Alfred Livingston is home.  Accompanied every step of the the way from Hawaii by a U.S. Navy escort, his remains arrived at the Indianapolis airport yesterday, July 19, early in the afternoon.  He was met by family members and Vern Spoor of Welch & Cornett Funeral Home who provided his transportation to Worthington.

Mr. Spoor, who has been involved in numerous military funerals, remarked that airport arrivals like this often suffer from delays, confusion and long waiting periods, and this was the smoothest, most well-executed arrival and transfer he'd ever seen.

A contingent of military pallbearers was waiting at the airport when the plane landed and made the transfer from the plane to the hearse from Worthington.  After Alfred's remains were officially given to family, his escort returned to Hawaii and Alfred started the last leg of his journey home.  

At the request of family, a contingent of ten motorcycles rode along with the hearse and family vehicles on the road to Worthington - which was smaller than what the public had expected.  The dignified motorcade moved swiftly and Alfred was quietly resting in Worthington long before his arrival was anticipated.  Consequently, there were no crowds out along the street.

As a result, we have no pictures of the day's events, but would be happy to post any that are submitted.

Alfred's remains will continue to lie quietly at Welch & Cornett until the memorial services at the cemetery at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday.

Although we were not able to greet Alfred on his arrival home exactly the way we had planned, it came about in a smooth and dignified manner and the town was going about it's business just as it was many years ago.  As he drove into town, things probably looked much the same as they did the day he left.