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Urn discovered in park is returned to widow
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Jesse Lavin, left, a student at Ohio Valley Teen Challenge in Youngstown, recently found the cremation urn of Brenda Hlebak’s husband, Michael Hlebak, in Mill Creek Park. Through a series of events, including a story in The Vindicator, the urn was returned to Brenda.
YOUNGSTOWN
The buzzer of Brenda Hlebak’s apartment rang on a recent morning. Then it rang again, and again, and again.
Hlebak, who is disabled, wasn’t in a rush to get to the door.
The buzzer rang 52 times in total until the apartment manager finally answered the door and contacted Hlebak, saying it was Nikki LaRocca, a friend of the tenant’s with something “important.”
LaRocca walked into Hlebak’s apartment, carrying the June 20 Vindicator and asking, “Do you know what this is?”
Hlebak, who doesn’t usually read the newspaper, said she got a cup of coffee and read a front page article about an urn found in Mill Creek Park by Jesse Lavin, a student at Ohio Valley Teen Challenge.
“I know that’s my husband’s urn,” Hlebak recalled saying to LaRocca. “And then I let loose. I started to cry. I’m still grieving over my husband. ...This is like a miracle for me.”
The urn once contained the remains of Michael E. Hlebak, who was born Sept. 22, 1955, and died Aug. 13, 2007, at Hospice House from cancer. He and Brenda wed Nov. 5, 1999.
“He was my soulmate,” she said.
Brenda said she last had the urn at an apartment complex in 2008 and that it was lost during a move.
Kinnick Funeral Home in Youngstown handled the arrangements, and the description of the urn found in the park matches that of the one purchased by Brenda, and the time period also fits, said Tom Kinnick, a director at the funeral home.
“Luckily, Brenda had chosen to have it engraved when she purchased it. Otherwise, there would be no identifying markings,” he said.
At first, Lavin, Teen Challenge pastor Kerry Dean, and Sgt. Chuck Swanson of Youngstown police thought the urn read “Michael L. McBack, Nov. 22, 1955 to Aug. 19, 2007.”
After The Vindicator article was published, the Rev. Mr. Dean said many people called the center with clues, including one woman who produced Michael Hlebak’s name and birth and death dates from genealogy research.
“It’s so hard to take in. Normally stuff like that is found in Africa under a pyramid,” he said.
Brenda contacted the center, and she received the urn back into her possession last week.
“I just really appreciate [Lavin] finding it for me. It’s like a miracle that he found it. If it wasn’t for my friend Nikki LaRocca, I would have never know about it, either,” Brenda said. “I hope it will give me closure.”