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USPS workers give Belleville man closure with early delivery of father's ashes

By and Nour Rahal
Published  December 19, 2023 11:20pm EST
Wayne County
FOX 2 Detroit

Belleville man eagerly awaiting father's ashes surprised by USPS workers

Mike Pigion of Belleville recently lost his father while he was in Florida. Two postal service workers helped expedite the delivery of his ashes.

BELLEVILLE, Mich. (FOX 2) - Two United States Postal Service workers went the extra mile to deliver the cremated remains of a Wayne County resident's father. 

This year, the holiday season is weighing heavily on Mike Pigion of Belleville, as he unexpectedly lost his dad in Florida on Nov. 30 – shortly after what turned out to be their last Thanksgiving together.

"Unfortunately, I couldn’t find the closure and let loose like I really, really felt I needed to – until I had him here with us," Pigion said. "We didn’t have any kind of ceremony or funeral or anything for him, we were just waiting on the cremains and everybody was going to do a celebration of life this summer, right around his birthday."

However, the wait for his father’s remains to return home was simply too agonizing.

"On Saturday, the tracking information said he was in Dexter, Michigan," Pigion said. "I waited patiently all of Saturday evening. My normal post-lady was driving down, delivering what looked like small packages… so I ran outside real quick and inquired with her if she happened to have any details or maybe a time frame… She let me know that they were doing strictly Amazon deliveries."

A few hours later, another delivery came by, as captured on Pigion's Ring camera. It was another USPS worker – this time with Pigion's father's ashes.

"So as soon as I turn the corner over here, she was standing over there just with the look of joy on her face and at first – I didn’t even ask her for the cremains, I just asked her for a hug," he said. Because that moment was so special."

The mail carrier told Pigion that the first worker went back to her post office and escalated the issue to her postmaster.

"She got the phone call and the OK to come bring me those cremains," Pigion said. "These ladies just went absolutely above and beyond."

Pigion said he was so caught up in the moment, he did not get the name of the person who delivered the remains. However, he hopes they will see his message in the news.

"You ladies, thank you so much, so much. It meant the world to me. My father‘s home and you know I could’ve waited the other 24 hours until he arrived, but that moment was so special to me – and right around Christmas-time," he said. "I just feel you ladies deserve the recognition, publicly, and from myself and my family as well."