More people here being cremated than buried
SPOKANE — Cremation has become more popular than burial in Washington, funeral directors say.
The National Funeral Directors Association reports that more than six out of 10 state residents are cremated after death, rather than buried in coffins. In 1980, about two-thirds of the people who died in the state were buried, The Spokesman-Review reported yesterday.
"There's no doubt; it's growing by leaps and bounds," said Bill Rossey, owner of Spokane Cremation and Burial Service.
Washington's cremation rate is now third-highest in the country, according to the Cremation Association of North America. It's 12 times the rate of Alabama or Tennessee.
Why?
Some funeral directors say Washingtonians tend to be pragmatists about death, and don't want to spend a lot of money on an elaborate funeral and grave. Environmentalists don't want to take up cemetery space.
Some apparently choose cremation because of claustrophobia or distaste at the thought of decaying in the ground.
"We talk to people regularly who choose cremation because they have a fear of being buried," said Brian Rodriguez of Seattle's Bonney-Watson funeral homes.
The state's low church attendance may be the biggest factor, funeral directors say. States with the highest rates of cremation — Hawaii, Nevada and Washington — ranked fifth, third and second from the lowest, respectively, in percentage of religious adherents, according to a 2000 study by Ohio's Glenmary Research Center, a Roman Catholic research and social-service organization that coordinates religious surveys across denominations.
Oregon is the least-religious state, according to the Glenmary study. In 2002, Oregon reported that about 60 percent of its deaths — about the same as Washington — were handled through cremation, the National Funeral Directors Association said.
"If the church isn't creating an expectation of burial, people are more likely to do what's more cost-effective and practical," said Sarajane Siegfriedt, director of a Seattle consumer group, the People's Memorial Association.
In addition, the rules are a lot looser for cremated remains.
Some families scatter them at a favorite beach, ski area or lake. Some keep them in urns on a mantel or tucked away in a closet. Others bury them in a favorite garden.
In recent years, an entire "cremains" industry has sprung up:
• For a fee, owners of small planes will scatter cremated remains over Mount Rainier or Idaho's Lake Coeur d'Alene.
• Others will add a pinch of cremated remains to blown-glass ornaments or a glass flower vase.
• A Chicago company called Lifegem will extract the carbon in cremated remains and put it under intense heat and pressure, creating a synthetic diamond.
• A California company called Angels Flight will load a person's ashes into fireworks shells. They're then launched as part of a 20-shell sendoff, with a finale.
• For a truly out-of-this-world sendoff, a Chicago company will launch tiny portions of human ashes into space.
Many funeral homes and cremation services are making changes to cope with the increasing popularity of cremation.
"Most funeral directors over the years have tried to ignore it, but it won't go away," said Dennis Murphy, a funeral director with Heritage Funeral Home and Crematory in Spokane.
In a bid to appeal to busy people seeking straightforward cremation services, the firm recently opened a storefront office in a strip mall.
Many families don't realize that they can cremate a loved one and still bury the ashes in a grave plot or a cemetery niche, Murphy said. Either option leaves a place for people to return with their memories, he said.
Rodriguez, at Bonney-Watson, encourages families to think carefully before scattering ashes.
"If you do a cremation and scattering, there's no going back," he said. "Maybe they scattered Mom's ashes at their favorite camping spot 20 years ago. But today there's a Wal-Mart there, and it's not the same."