No-Frills ‘Green Burials’ Offer New Way to Go to the Great Hereafter
By MOLLY SMITH for Reporting Texas on Jan 6, 2017 Ellen Macdonald got the idea to open the first green cemetery in Central Texas while watching an episode of “Six Feet Under,” an HBO series about a family that owned a funeral home, in 2007. “It was the first time I ...
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 ReadingKnow Your Options: Burials
A burial is defined as an act or ceremony of burying a dead person or object in a grave, often synonymous with "interment," the placing of human remains in an underground enclosure. In the funeral industry, a burial is a means of final disposition that ends with burial in the ...
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 ReadingEverything You Need to Know About Death Certificates
Photo: Alan Crawford, Getty Images When a loved one dies, you'll need to order death certificates to submit to certain agencies to shut down accounts or collect benefits. But how many death certificates should you order? Below you'll learn about the purpose of death certificates, typical uses, how to order ...
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 -- ...
Continue ReadingPhiladelphia Media Network profits from digital incubator partnerships
By Mark Toner for INMA When sales representatives for the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Philadelphia Daily News, and Philly.com call on clients, they know the advertising collateral on their iPads — rate cards, samples, and advertising guidelines — is up to date. That’s because a mobile document management system developed by ...
Continue ReadingEast Asia Funeral Customs
This section provides an overview of funeral rituals and customs in East Asia. Click on one of the following countries to skip to that section and learn about the specific and unique funeral practices of China, South Korea, Vietnam and Philippines. Basic Spiritual Beliefs A common belief in East Asia is that the spirits ...
Continue ReadingWhy Cremation is Rising A Trend
Aside from the green burials with mushroom suits and biodegradable coffins, a more significant trend in the death care industry is an old favorite: cremation. Cremation goes back at least 20,000 years ago to Australia where archaeologists found the Mungo Lady, a partly cremated body of a woman at Lake Mungo, ...
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