LOUISVILLE, Ky. — "I mean this small-town boy grew up born and raised in tiny town Vine Grove, Kentucky, ended up opening up a world of travel for my family," Charleen Shakman said, reminiscing about her father, Charles Pyles.
Charles and Doris Pyles met at Western Kentucky University, they'd been married for 51 years.
"We traveled all over the United States, not only did he love to travel, so did I," Doris said.
After retiring as a civil service employee at Fort Knox, Charles continued his travels.
"My father had fallen in love with the Philippines decades ago, he spent as much, if not more time over there at his home away from home than as he has here throughout the years," Shakman said.
He'd travel there often and was in the Philippines when the pandemic started but was heading back to the states to be there for his granddaughter who was graduating from college.
"He had purchased a plane ticket as was planning to come home right around the time that he passed," Shakman said.
On May 12, Shakman said she received a hair-raising Facebook message from her father's account that said "your dad is dead, to much sick." Of course, I immediately called my father on that account." Not knowing if he'd been hacked, his best friend later confirmed, her father had passed away.
"My father's friend and he had been understanding my father's demise to COVID," Shakman said. The death coming as a complete shock to the family.
"Even if you're ready for someone to pass on, you're not ready, nobody's ever ready," Doris said.
Once the shock diminished, reality took over.
"What happened next, we were totally unprepared for," Doris said.
Charles still isn't home. Thousands of dollars, phone calls and emails to the state department and the embassy, the funeral home in Manila and local senators.
"My husband doesn't want to be sitting on any shelf on a basement or windowsill. I don't know where he is, I've never seen this place. But I know he wants to be home," Doris said.
Charleen says it's been a big effort from local senators including Missouri Senator Josh Hawley and Kentucky Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell along with her CEO and United Airlines.
"It may take half the united states and foreign countries to get some ashes home. It shouldn't, but it might," Doris said.
After all these months, a light. Late Friday afternoon, they received a United flight confirmation. They hope to have their father's ashes by September 4th, 2020.