Ashes To Ashes
Whether for logistical, economic or environmental reasons, an increasing number of people are choosing to have their bodies cremated after death — and major religions are accepting of the idea.
“The concept of cremation fits in very well with what we believe,” said the Rev. Tom Pierotti, pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church in Butler. “On Ash Wednesday, when we trace ashes on people’s foreheads, we say... ‘Remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return.’”
The Roman Catholic church has officially allowed cremation since 1963 and incorporated such into canon law in 1983.
“I think religious restrictions that were in place have changed over the years,” said Patrick J. Boylan II at Boylan Funeral Home in Zelienople.
“Other reasons I think include that families have moved all over the country. They want to be here for the service. Cremation gives them a chance to be here together for the service.”
The Rev. John Rickloff of Mars United Presbyterian Church said, “We do a growing number of (funeral) services in this church that are scheduled not necessarily two or three days after death.
“It becomes ... we could do this Thursday or Friday or even Saturday, a weekend memorial service when people from out of town can come and participate. There are people who want to be there but don’t have leave from work because it’s not an immediate relative.”
In Pennsylvania, 25 percent of deaths in 2003 ended with cremation, slightly less than the national average of 28 percent, according to statistics from the Cremation Association of North America. Those numbers are projected to increase to 37 percent and 35 percent respectively by 2010, with Pennsylvania besting the national average.
In fact, the first crematory in the United States opened in Washington, Pa., in 1876, followed by the second in Lancaster in 1884, Boylan said.“Most funeral homes don’t have cremation facilities on site,” he said, but they can offer the service through one of the crematories in the Pittsburgh area.“Part of our plans for the future would be to offer cremation on site,” said Boylan, whose family’s business includes the Boylan funeral homes in Zelienople and Evans City and the Glenn-Kildoo funeral homes in Zelienople and Cranberry Township.The number of cremations handled by those four funeral homes is about 32 percent of the total number of funerals, Boylan said. At the Cranberry Township site, it’s 41 percent.Some people may consider cremation for economic reasons, believing the process to be less expensive than a traditional burial. While that can be true, some combinations of cremation along with other services may cost more than a traditional burial.“Cremation is just a form of final disposition,” noted Glenn Miller of Thompson-Miller Funeral Home in Butler. “Final disposition can take the form of burial, entombment, donating your body to science or cremation. With cremation, it doesn’t mean you can’t have visitation or funeral services or anything you want.”In general, a simple cremation can cost less than $1,000, Boylan said. Depending on factors such as visitation and urns, a higher-end cost could be about $5,500.
As part of the service the funeral home provides, Boylan said, the deceased’s body is attended throughout the cremation process, which takes about four to five hours.One of the biggest misconceptions about cremation is fueled by the movies in which characters imagine coffins engulfed in fire. In reality, cremation involves intense heat — 1,800 to 2,000 degrees — that produces extreme dehydration or an accelerated oxidation process, Boylan said. The body is not exposed to open flames.“Each cremation is done individually,” Boylan said. “Funeral homes are required to wait 24 hours after death; that’s Pennsylvania law. ... Part of our services is the care of the loved one during that time. Another part would be taking the loved one to the crematory and being present during cremation.”Most crematories require a closed, rigid container for cremation, Boylan said. The process reduces the body to ash and bone fragments, which are further processed into fine particles called cremated remains, or cremains. The cremated remains of an average adult weigh 5 to 8 pounds.Once, Boylan said, a family that practiced Buddhism wanted to attend the cremation. “We’re moving toward accommodating a family who might want to be present for cremation,” he said.Religion often plays a part in end-of-life rituals.Rickloff said his United Presbyterian denomination views cremation as a personal choice. “With the power of the resurrection, bodily resurrection, there is no problem for God to bring back the body from a decomposed body or from ashes,” he said. “For God, it doesn’t matter at what point that starts.”He said his father, as well as his mother-in-law and father-in-law, chose cremation.
Usually the cremated remains, or ashes, are buried at a cemetery. As far as scattering ashes, “It’s not something you want to do in public,” Rickloff noted. According to the state Department of Environment Protection, there are no specific environmental regulations that directly address this issue.Ashes can also be secured in a columbarium, a kind of mausoleum that holds urns.“A lot of Lutheran churches have columbaria, a special place for ashes at the church. We’re looking into it,” Pierotti said.“A lot of churches I know of have memorial gardens. There is a plaque there where names are added to it. The ashes are mixed in with the dirt. I think this is just good stewardship, to put the remains to the best possible use. It’s probably best for the environment.”Trinity Lutheran in the next year or so will probably be looking at creating a memorial garden, the pastor said.Pierotti said he has also scattered ashes according to a family’s wishes. “I’ve done that at Camp Lutherlyn in Prospect, cast the ashes on the ground. I’ve known people who’ve had their ashes spread in sand traps at golf courses — favorite places.”While the Catholic church allows cremation, the church still calls for the final disposition of the ashes to be buried in a grave or entombed in a mausoleum or columbarium.
The Catholic church prefers the practice of burial of the deceased’s body, but if cremation is chosen, “it is strongly preferred that it take place after the actual funeral liturgy with the body present,” according to a Cremation and Catholic Funeral Rites booklet from the Diocese of Pittsburgh’s Department of Worship.Recently, funeral liturgies have been approved to be celebrated with cremated remains present, or even after burial or entombment has taken place, according to the booklet.Boylan noted his plan for his own funeral includes cremation. “Sometimes it makes people more comfortable when they find out I’ve thought about it and chosen it for myself.“Funeral homes are making themselves a resource to help people make decisions, especially knowing that people are more and more choosing cremation.” Boylan said.“It’s an emotional time. Funeral homes help them make informed decisions.”
