Funeral held for hospital fire victims in Norman

NORMAN, Okla. (AP) — A memorial service was held this week in honor of 40 patients who died in a 1918 fire at a state psychiatric hospital in Norman.

According to The Oklahoman (http://bit.ly/1GHF3ky ), about 30 mental health professionals, disability advocates and firefighters attended the service Monday at the IOOF Cemetery, where a rose-colored stone marker was unveiled. Thirty-nine patients were buried in an unmarked mass grave that was forgotten before it was discovered in 2014. The body of one victim was claimed by his family.

The fire is believed to have started in the linen closet near the center of the hospital, now known as Griffin Memorial, where a majority of the patients were staying. The hospital's staff scrambled to save patients, evacuating about 300 patients from the burning wards. In total, four buildings were destroyed, wards No. 10, 14 and 15, and the dining room.

Larry Gross, executive director of Griffin Memorial Hospital, told The Norman Transcript (http://bit.ly/1ctjmZ1 ) that many people were bothered that the location of the grave site was unknown.

"I think it bothered all of us that we didn't know where this gravesite was. We knew it was in this cemetery and we knew it was in this area, but we didn't know the exact location," said Larry Gross, executive director of Griffin Memorial Hospital. "There wasn't an exact place, an exact marker, and that was troubling."

Mental health advocates say the men's burial site was unmarked due to the attitude toward mental illness at the time.

"All people's lives have value and meaning," said Carrie Slatton-Hodges, deputy commissioner of recovery and treatment at the state's mental health agency. "A person with mental illness has no lesser right to buried with dignity than does a person with heart disease, but I guess they didn't know that 100 years ago."

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