A minister said that "Funerals are supposed to be the end." The funeral of which the Rev. Alan Davis spoke was 27 years ago. But closure didn't come until the third week in September, 1997, if it has come at all.

Alan Davis spoke of Dr. Sam Sheppard. He was buried 27 years ago, still considered by many (most?) as the killer of his wife, Marilyn, in 1954 in their Bay Village home.

Sheppard's body was exhumed from its Columbus grave because his son does not believe his father killed his mother. There are others, too, who believe in Sheppard's innocence. Rev. Davis is one of them. DNA tests will be conducted on some 50 samples from Sheppard's body. His son, Sam Reese Sheppard, hopes the results will prove his father did not kill his mother.

The ashes of Dr. Sheppard were put in the crypt alongside Marilyn's body in a Mayfield Heights cemetery.

That is closure, of a sort, but "a finish, end, conclusion" can't come until the question of guilt or innocence is proved. Will DNA results do that?

A more satisfying closure came a week earlier. It, too, had to do with the ashes of a man buried in a local cemetery; it, too, had to do with a man involved in the criminal justice system; it, too, came years after the man's death.

Eliot Ness died 40 years ago. He was nearly broke at his death. His family could not afford a grave plot. He was cremated. His ashes remained with relatives.

Chicago was his place of recognition as The Untouchable against Al Capone. Cleveland was his place of greater accomplishment as the safety director who cleaned up the city.

In her eulogy, Rebecca McFarland--she researched Ness for years and is a recognized authority on his life and deeds--said, "What his family couldn't do, we will do when we put his ashes into their final resting place."

Ness' ashes and those of his third wife and their adopted son were poured gently into a memorial wreath resting on the water of a small lake in historic Lake View Cemetery.

"It just seemed inappropriate," McFarland said, "that he hadn't been buried or memorialized in a proper way."

With dignity, what McFarland saw as an oversight has now, largely because of her efforts, been corrected.

There is closure.

Such dignity is absent in the "closure"--real or only hoped for--for Sheppard.

No matter what the DNA tests disclose, there are those who will never believe in the innocence of Dr. Sam Sheppard.

Editorial writers and cartoonists have either railed against or questioned even the efforts to prove innocence, even though DNA results have led to reversed convictions in at least 40 criminal cases.

Such protests may take on some credence if the tests prove nothing.

But what if the test results indicate that Dr. Sheppard was/is innocent?

Will closure come then?

Other notes... on endings... and beginnings... and stuff in between:

Endings: Show Boat sails away Oct. 5 after a long run at the State Theatre. A new cap'n will be at the wheel for the final performances: Dean Jones takes over from Len Cariou as Cap'n Andy from Sept. 30 until the Cotton Blossom moves on to Toronto after leaving Cleveland.

The long wait for the Indians to win another Central Division title...at least, the ending is in sight (it is; isn't it?) and may already have happened by the time you read this.

Playoff tickets? Forget it: they're gone.

Oct. 6: that's the ending date for the buying of those "PSL's" for the Browns' new stadium. A bunch of those Permanent Seat Licenses (why do they capitalize all that?) already are gone.

As for the stadium: it's a few million bucks over budget, but Mayor Michael R. White still says it will be built on time and (maybe) for the $247-million project ceiling. That "maybe" gets bigger and bigger.

Speaking of stadiums and endings and beginnings: In Akron a "new" beginning for Canal Park Stadium, where the Aeros play (and where they drew good crowds despite a not-so-good season); the city and the Aeros owner seemed to have resolved their megabucks dispute over how much the team owner owed Akron.

At Great Lakes Science Center, a beginning for Richard Scarry's hands-on exhibit for kids, called "Busytown." They call it "a see and do exhibit that creates a bilingual learning adventure for kids and parents, too."

The Labor Day weekend marked an ending of a 22-year Cleveland tradition: The Cleveland National Air Show did not fly. Because of a scheduling conflict with the Navy's Blue Angels flying team, the show was postponed until the Sept. 27-28 weekend at Burke Lakefront Airport. (Tickets: $14 adults, $9 kids at the gate; $11 and $6 advance at Discount Drug Mart locations. Parking is $5.)

A beginning at The Cleveland Play House: "Dracula" (Sept. 23-Nov. 8; tickets: $26-$36, 795-7000). Of course, if the fangs hit you in the right spots, the beginning well could be the ending, couldn't it. (And what a lovely neck you have!)

"The Tempest" is Great Lakes Theater Festival's beginning (Oct. 2-19) at Ohio Theatre on Playhouse Square. (Tickets: $16-$37; 241-6000.) A big beginning at The Hanna Theater with "The All Night Strut" opening the Cabaret season at what once was Cleveland's premier theater. For ticket and show information: 771-1664.

Several beginnings for Cleveland Ballet: first, an official name change: it's now officially the "Cleveland San Jose Ballet" to mark the ballet's dual-homestead in Ohio and California (in San Jose, as you might guess, the names are switched).

Also, the Ballet has its own site on the World Wide Web (www.csjballet.org) and has begun selling tickets for the fall season. Two world premieres will be part of the season: Artistic Director Dennis Nahat's "Carmina Burana," and "Marilyn."

Nahat had a big winner in his "Blue Suede Shoes" ballet to music by Elvis Presley; now, he's wraps his choreographic expertise around the life of Marilyn Monroe.

"Marilyn" premieres Oct. 24.

That is the launch date for five weeks of rotating repertory, running through Nov. 23 at the State Theatre.

Also on Playhouse Square, an ending and a beginning: the coming down of part of the old Allen Theater to be replaced by a new performance hall. It's a $15-million project.

End result: the largest performing arts complex outside of New York City's Lincoln Center. The plan: to be able to bring in shows that run for six months to a year or longer on Playhouse Square.

(A footnote to that: in Toronto, "The Phantom of the Opera" is in its eighth year and sells out most performances.

(Closure?

(Not in sight.)

OTHER STORIES by John Herrington

RETURN TO Cleveland, The New American City