It was his obituary in the Naples Daily News that caught the attention of many in the community, both those who had served in one of the branches of the Armed Forces and those civilians who felt that someone who had served his country shouldn’t be buried alone.
Thus began a viral campaign that rallied thousands of people in the local community to become the family who would put this veteran to rest.
Not much was known about Pearson, who was born in 1939, until one of his fellow residents in hospice care managed to track down the former soldier’s military records. These showed that he served in the U.S. Army from 1962 to 1964 before being honorably discharged at the rank of Private First Class, which meant he was entitled to full honors at his funeral and eligible for burial in a national cemetery.
Funeral director Michael Hoyt of Legacy Options decided to help organize the effort to make sure that Pearson was properly honored for his service. They scheduled the funeral for Oct. 1, 2019, at the Sarasota National Cemetery, about two hours away from Naples.
From virtually no one attending, the funeral was now expected to bring in hundreds, if not thousands, of attendees, none of whom ever knew Pearson.
It turned out that this was not the first time that Pearson had been aided by a social media campaign. One person who was able to give a little bit more information about Pearson’s backstory was Patty Thrasher, a customer service representative for the Collier County Tax Collector’s Officer. She had met Pearson after his double wide trailer had been severely damaged in 2017 by Hurricane Irma, which slammed into the Gulf Coast.
As Pearson tried to get a grant to rebuild his home, Thrasher found out that he had been the victim of a scam leaving him without a title for the lot. She went on social media to help raise donations to pay back taxes, fix the roof, and even help get a legal title for his new home. Unfortunately, before Pearson could move back in, he passed away.
The funeral service itself ended up having more than 4,000 attendees, wildly outnumbering all the estimates. The traffic on the way in to the Sarasota National Cemetery was so intense that funeral director Michael Hoyt, who was carrying Pearson’s ashes, had to be escorted in by police.
It was a moving tribute for someone who had served his country.