As new generations explore new ways to cope with the deaths of their loved ones, cemeteries must find new ways to accommodate their customers.

The Butler County Memorial Park and Mausoleum was the first in the county to make glass-front niches available to its customers, according to manager Paul Simms.

The niches look like a grouping of square, glass-paneled spaces. Some of the spaces are occupied by urns, each different and unique from the others.

“These are for the people who want cremation, but want to be a little show-offy,” Simms said.

Simms said a lot of people think that cremation is a less personalized than traditional burial, but the experience can be whatever they make it.

“Some people think cremations are the end-all,” he said. “But the 'cremains' have to go somewhere.”

The National Funeral Directors Association says the increased interest in personalized funerals began with the baby boomer generation and has continued to influence the experience of funerals and remembering loved ones.

“As baby boomers age and find themselves having to plan funerals for loved ones and themselves, they are making funeral choices based on values that are different than previous generations,” the organization states on its website.

“Baby boomers see funerals as a valuable part of the grieving process and are seeking ways to make them meaningful.”

Simms said one thing that can make the new niches unique is the urns themselves. He said his company works closely with Mathews Bronze to create urns cast entirely in bronze. He said customers can add personalizations by submitting photographs or images that can be cast into the urn during production.

Simms said the images can be edited and altered before production to enhance their appearance in bronze. He said the customers usually have the opportunity to inspect the image beforehand too, especially if their arrangements are prearranged.

“You can give us any picture you have, and we can turn it into a work of art for your final resting place,” he said. “If you dream it, we can do it.”

Simms said the bronze urns do cost more than traditional urns, but they are lasting and will be more sentimental.

“They're different because they won't fade over time,” he said.

While the glass-fronted niches offer something new for their customers, the park offers other traditional options, such as ground burials or closed mausoleum spaces.

Simms said his company has tried to offer all the most common options, and the new glass niches were to cater to new trends. He said cremation began gaining wide popularity beginning in the 1990s specifically, but they still make up fewer than half of his agenda.

“Thirty eight out of 100 people will get cremated this year on average,” Simms said.

The National Funeral Directors Association projects the rate of cremations is likely to increase, to as much as 71 percent of all funerals by 2030.

Simms said the trends fluctuate with time, so it's important to have anything available at any given time because, like death, people's expectations can sometimes be unpredictable.

“People want what they want,” he said.

Simms said the tough part can sometimes be filling in the gaps between needs. He said the closed mausoleum spaces are an acceptable middle ground to those who don't want a ground burial but also don't want their urns visible. Simms said people can't tell whether those in the mausoleum have been cremated or entombed, which gives the families more privacy.

He said his company strives to serve through their variety in options and continues to stay on top of new trends.

“We offer the most amount of options for people who want to remember their loved ones,” Simms said. “And, we continue to evolve.”