Stories from the Web
From Ashes to Diamonds
By Mandy Kennedy for 22 Words; Photo Credit: Bear Creek Funeral A New Technology Creates This Bizarre and Beautiful Alternative To Burying Your Deceased Loved Ones As traditional in our culture as funerals and burials of loved ones have become, it's a pretty wasteful practice. A company out of Switzerland has recognized this ...
Continue ReadingStonemor Might Be Writing Its Own Obituary
January 27, 2017 By by Laura McCrystal, Staff Writer for Philly.com When the Archdiocese of Philadelphia two years ago announced plans to lease its 13 cemeteries to a private company, the deal was heralded as one to help the church recover from a dire financial situation. Now, the Bucks County-based StoneMor Partners LP ...
Continue ReadingBig For-Profit Cemetery Owner Settling Suits with Jews Who Say It Dug Up Their Loved Ones’ Bones
By Julie Masis, January 17, 2017 Not long ago, Jean Bergman, an 88-year-old retired manicurist, received a check for $1,000. She deposited it without giving it too much thought. “I wasn’t told any of the details,” she said. The check arrived in connection with her husband’s grave at Eden Memorial ...
Continue ReadingIf You Want to Save On a Funeral You Better Shop Around
By NATASHA LINDSTROM for TribLive About 50 polished caskets line the showroom at Duster Funeral Home in Tarentum. Their price tags range from $1,100 to more than $15,000. "Solid bronze is really the top, then below that copper, stainless steel and, of course, expensive woods: cherry, mahogany," supervisor J. Rodney Duster said. ...
Continue Reading'Today We Are His Family': Teen Volunteers Mourn Those Who Died Alone
Jan. 25, 2016 courtesy of Arun Rath and NPR. On the drive to Fairview Cemetery in the Boston neighborhood of Hyde Park, six seniors from Roxbury Latin boys' school sit in silent reflection. Mike Pojman, the school's assistant headmaster and senior adviser, says the trip is a massive contrast to ...
Continue ReadingVatican issues guidelines on cremation, says no to scattering ashes
Rome (CNN) The Vatican announced Tuesday that Catholics may be cremated but should not have their ashes scattered at sea or kept in urns at home. According to new guidelines from the Vatican's doctrinal office, cremated remains should be kept in a "sacred place" such as a church cemetery. Ashes should ...
Continue ReadingThe Women Who Love Death
By JEN ORTIZ Oct 31, 2016 for Marie Claire Young women are more paranoid about their own demise than ever before. Enter "death positivity," a new female-driven trend aimed at turning that fear on its head. About a dozen people are gathered at the Morbid Anatomy Museum in Brooklyn, New York for ...
Continue ReadingFCA Philadelphia Newsletter: Summer 2016
Beating the high cost of funerals: With hard work from our board and volunteers, we now have over 140 General Price Lists from funeral homes all over the greater Philadelphia area. Direct cremation ranges from $700 to $4,465 (for the same thing!), and immediate burial from $900 to over $7,000! ...
Continue ReadingCremation Not Included: FCA Study Reveals All
When a loved one passes away, those tasked with arranging funerals and settling estates have to make a multitude of decisions during a stressful time and on a deadline. Cremation? Burial? Embalming? Organ Donation? The possibilities are endless and the choices made often have a lasting effect and although we ...
Continue ReadingThe cost of dying is steep for the unprepared
By Marion Callahan for PhillyBurbs The last thing grief-stricken people may think about when a loved one dies is the cost of the final arrangements. With little time to plan during a vulnerable time, they could end up with a hefty bill, paying far more on services than they planned -- ...
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