Office of Veterans Services steps up after 78-year-old veteran dies in Rochester house fire

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — The Monroe County Office of Veterans Services is stepping up after learning a 78-year-old woman who died a week ago in a Rochester house fire was a veteran.

We’ve learned Christine Cannon served in the U.S. Army. She died all alone in a devastating house fire on Hancock Street on Friday. Rochester Police has been searching for relatives but so far no one has come forward.

Officials say service men and women should be treated with dignity. So the county will handle burial arrangements and benefits for her.

“The county provides really significant important service, if somebody serves this country and they deserve military honors, they deserve the respect above and beyond, so we make sure that they get that through a process,” said Nick Stefanovic of the Monroe County Veterans Services.

We told you about restaurant owner Van Stanley who is planning a memorial service for Cannon. That service is scheduled for next Saturday and is open to the public.