To make matters worse, the name on the death certificate and headstone were flipped to read “Thomas Karah,” instead of his name Karah Thomas.
SAN ANTONIO — A Navy veteran passed away and his family says they were never notified.
Now his estranged daughter is looking for answers as to why her father, Karah Thomas, is buried in a paupers grave.
Thomas’ daughter Deanna Zak says she is not fully at peace with her father’s death and feels more should have been done to contact family and give him a proper military burial.
“He’s out in just a regular public cemetery with no military honors, no nothing,” said Zak.
Zak says Thomas comes from a long line of veterans, including his other four brothers. She says she last saw her father when he was living in San Antonio.
“I saw him last in 2003 and he was very thin, very frail. I begged him to come stay with me and he said ‘No, you shouldn’t have to take care of me,'” Zak said.
She says she lost contact with her father and spent years looking for him. She says life and major health issues also prevented her from traveling to search for him.
Seeking help, she reached out to the local nonprofit Search & Support San Antonio.
The nonprofit was able to find out that Thomas was staying at a Salvation Army in an assisted living facility.
“We were able to learn that he had been taken to the hospital in September of 2023 and unfortunately, that’s where he passed,” said Lori Wittmeyer, case intake manager for Search & Support San Antonio.
Wittmeyer with Search & Support San Antonio says when she called the VA’s Office of Decedent Affairs earlier this month, a representative told them that Thomas’ body was handed over to the county and his name was reversed in their system to “Thomas Karah.”
After Thomas’ death, Zak says the family was not notified and he ended up being buried in a paupers grave in Von Ormy.
To make matters worse his name was flipped on death records and the headstone, to read “Thomas Karah.”
“I was crushed at that moment because I’m like, ‘Wow,’ he deserves so much more than that. From what I have found out, they never did a search through the VA, to see if he was eligible to be buried in a VA cemetery,” said Zak.
Zak says she is working with Bexar County to fix the name on her father’s death certificate and to see if he is eligible to be given a proper military burial at Fort Sam Houston Cemetery.
She says she has been told she will have to pay for his body to be exhumed.
KENS 5 did reach out to Veteran Affairs’ who sent a statement.
South Texas Veterans Health Care System submits the following statement:
“Our hearts go out to this Veteran’s family, and we are working directly with them to ensure that he is properly honored and memorialized for his service to our country. According to VA records, this Veteran did not pass away at the San Antonio Medical Center or any South Texas VA facility.
Thomas’s daughter says the VA has not contacted her as yet, but will wait for them to call.”