University, community and family members gave thanks to body donors during annual interment ceremony
When Michelle Clyne was little, her father, Henry “Hank” Clyne, had her convinced that he hunted dinosaurs. When she’d draw pictures of his grand adventures, her teacher would say what a great imagination she had.
To the Chicago resident who flew to San Antonio to attend UT Health San Antonio’s Burial of Ashes ceremony to inter the cremated remains of those who gave their bodies for student education and to pay tribute to the donors, the event provided a special opportunity to honor her father’s memory.
“I was not expecting to be this emotional, since it was three years ago that he passed, but this was the closest to a funeral that I was able to experience,” Clyne said.
Clyne, along with her sister, Jenni Stewart, and brother, David Clyne, recalled the beautiful details that made their father who he was. His great mustache. His love of broccoli cheddar soup. His compassion for animals. His sweet, gentle demeanor. His love of science and teaching.
“I’m a teacher, and he used to come to my classroom to teach how the planets rotate around the sun,” Stewart recalled. “And he did it for us kids when we were little with a flashlight and a basketball.”
The Clynes were among about 150 people who attended the interment ceremony at UT Health San Antonio’s Memorial Park on April 29. Attendees included donor family members and the university’s faculty, staff and students, who expressed their gratitude for the donors’ important contributions toward educating students.
Honoring donors’ generous, selfless contributions
The ceremony began with music, including an instrumental quartet composed of first-year medical students from the university’s Music and Medicine group, followed by a vocal performance by graduate students from The University of Texas at San Antonio’s Vocal Music Department and department chair John Nix, and rounded out with a rendition of “Amazing Grace” by internationally recognized bagpiper Robert Chalk. Chalk has participated in the event since 2004. He served as the supervisor of anatomical services for UT Health San Antonio’s Body Donation Program before moving to the University of the Incarnate Word’s School of Osteopathic Medicine as director of UIW’s Willed Body Program.
While Sandesh Puri, a first-year medical student and a member of the Music and Medicine group, did not perform during the event, he felt compelled to attend to pay tribute to the donors.
“I really wanted to come to this event to pay my respects and share and show my gratitude for all the families that have given us the opportunity to learn,” Puri said.
Omid B. Rahimi, PhD, professor and director of the Human Anatomy Program at UT Health San Antonio’s Department of Cell Systems and Anatomy, welcomed the attendees and expressed appreciation to the donors’ family members.
“This ceremony reflects our profound gratitude and respect for all the participants in our body donation program and conveys our appreciation for the compassion and support of their family and friends, regardless of occupation, social standing, age, health or ailment,” Rahimi said. “Each donor’s remarkable gift equally contributes in shaping the well-being of future generations.”
Following Rahimi’s introduction, Lily Q. Dong, PhD, professor and chair, Department of Cell Systems and Anatomy, and Sadie A. Trammell Velasquez, MD, FACP, associate professor of medicine and assistant dean for the preclinical curriculum in the Office of Undergraduate Medical Education, paid tribute to the donors along with seven representatives from classes that have studied anatomy in the past year.
Students express their heartfelt gratitude
First-year occupational therapy student and class president Catherine Buley eloquently recalled her reverence for the donors.
“Before we ever stepped into the lab, our professor reminded us that these bodies were to be treated with the utmost respect,” Buley said. “I expected to feel overwhelmed, maybe even cry, but when I finally entered the lab and saw the donor we would be learning from, what I felt instead was a deep sense of humility and compassion. Over the semester, that feeling only grew. This person became more than a learning tool. They became a kind of silent teacher, almost like a companion. In every layer we studied, they shared something of themselves with us.”
Buley shared that for her and her classmates, the body donors not only deepened their understanding of the human form, but also taught them how to apply their class experience to the complexities of real people.
“In occupational therapy, we don’t just treat injuries or limitations, we treat people and we help them return to the things that make life meaningful like dressing, cooking, holding a grandchild, returning to work,” Buley said. “These donors reminded us that every body holds a lifetime of these moments. They helped us understand not only how bodies move, but why it matters that they do.”
“To the families here today, you gave not only the gift of a body to science, but the gift of trust to us as learners.” — Catherine Buley, first-year occupational therapy student
First-year dental student and class president Kate McNeill said the donors provided a gift that would contribute to her classmates’ futures by becoming their very first teachers in the study of anatomy.
“One student shared a sentiment that a lot of us related to on how they imagined who their donor might have been, what their favorite food was, what their laughter sounded like, and what memories they held dear,” McNeill said. “It reminded us constantly that the individuals had full, rich lives. … These thoughts shaped the way we approach each lesson, not with detachment, but with a growing sense of connection and empathy. There were times we found ourselves offering a quiet thanks before beginning our work or pausing for a silent moment at the end of a long day — gestures of gratitude that became part of our routine, just as essential as any scientific method. These small rituals helped us to stay grounded in the humanity of what we were experiencing, even as we learned the technical skills that would carry us forward into our future professions.”
First-year medical student and class president Aadil Rehan thanked the families and expressed his gratitude for the donors, who by giving their bodies to the study of medicine, have provided the next generation of doctors an “irreplaceable component” of their education.
“Whenever I have doubted myself, I remember that our donors chose to believe in us so strongly that they dedicated their bodies to our betterment, and in turn, the betterment of so many in the future,” Rehan said. “In that sense, even after biological life ends and the physical body fades, those who pass on remain with us through their memory, their actions, their legacy. … And while our time with the donors was brief, they have irrevocably shaped us on our path to becoming physicians. Every life that we touch will be a testament to the opportunity our donors gave us. … Perhaps our greatest teachers are those whose voices we will never get to hear.”
For Elizabeth Arnold, a second-year medical student at UIW’s School of Osteopathic Medicine, the opportunity to see the families of the donors and express her gratitude was special. She was among the students to provide remarks at the event, as UT Health San Antonio’s Body Donation Program provides body donors for study at UIW.
“I think it just really drives home the humanity aspect of our professions, getting to meet the people who lived with and resided beside their [loved ones their] entire life, and we are now able to learn from that person,” Arnold said. “So, just being able to have a ceremony where we get to see the family members is very important.”
Following the speakers, family members solemnly walked past the gravesites marking the donations of previous years and placed a red flower or a handful of dirt to pay their respects.
Embracing treasured memories
For Theresa Smith, attending the ceremony sparked memories of her big brother, Andrew Hildebrand, who left for Germany to serve in the U.S. Air Force when she was a child.
“We had gone to the airport [to see him off and the memory] is very vivid,” she recalled. “I was four or five years old.”
She smiled warmly as she recalled her brother, who she described as a quiet, generous soul who always thought of others.
Smith’s brother, William Hildebrand, said their brother Andrew — the second oldest of nine kids — was an airplane mechanic in the Air Force and worked as a mechanic for most of his life.
“For the last years of his life, he was helping me with doing carpentry work,” Hildebrand said. So, you know, we got to know each other really well.”
The two siblings said they appreciated the opportunity to attend the interment ceremony, as it provided an opportunity for them to recall fond memories of their brother.
“This [ceremony] gives you a place to remember him,” Hildebrand said.
Members of the Clyne family also appreciated the opportunity to receive closure and hear how donors served as teachers for students in so many respects.
Joanne Clyne, wife of donor Hank Clyne, said that given her husband’s love for teaching, she was glad to see that, as a donor, he continued to teach.
When Joanne Clyne recalled speaking with Rebecca Cantu — the university’s program project coordinator with the Body Donation Program office — she remembered Cantu saying, “Mr. Clyne is still teaching the students,” and Clyne replied, “How perfect. Yeah, that would be Hank.”