FuneralNewsCentral.com » Cemeteries

Unrecorded Burials Cause Problems

Bob — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 20:05:16 +0000

The Village of Groveport, Ohio ran into a disconcerting issue recently. When cemetery staff opened what was supposed to be a new grave, they found a century-old unrecorded burial.

Village history mentions surreptitious burials in connection with an 1830s cholera epidemic; legend says that families would not mention the death, then bury their loved one at night, without benefit of a marked, recorded plot. Carla Cramer of the Groveport Heritage Society says the village knows basically where the “cholera section” is though.

There are plans to map the cemetery using ground-penetrating radar, but those ahve been put on hold for at least a year due to current economic conditions.

Green Funeral Roadblock in Georgia

Bob — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 16:18:31 +0000

Macon-Bibb County commissioners voted on November 4 to require a leak-proof casket or vault for all burials in the county, effectively killing a business and zoning proposal by Elizabeth Collins and James Wood. They had purchased 58 acres near Macon, and intended to create a 7,500 body green cemetery, but neighbors lobbied the commissioners for the law change. The land is still zoned for a cemetery, but the requirement for leak-proof burial containers runs counter to Collins’ ideals.

SCI Withdraws Rezoning Application

Bob — Sat, 06 Dec 2008 21:24:48 +0000

Service Corporation International has withdrawn its rezoning application in Newport News, Virginia. The funeral service provider had sought to rezone land within its Peninsula Memorial Park to build a funeral home there.

This is the third application the company has submitted, and each time, there has been much opposition. Most citizens are fearful that SCI’s presence will take too much business away from local funeral homes. City officials say a funeral home is not in keeping with their long-range plan for that area, which calls for green space. The city is researching legislative means to prevent any entity from rezoning or building withing a cemetery.

Sabine Hirschauer of the Daily Press has more.

Living Green, Dying Green

Bob — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 16:40:34 +0000

When I was still riding escorts, I had a habit of reading any trade journal I could get my hands on, just to earn more about the industry. Two or three years ago, one publication had a profile of a interesting cemetery. It allowed no monuments stones, metal caskets, or concrete vaults. You didn’t get a plot map, but a GPS fix for the grave. They didn’t have groundskeepers on staff; they had botanists. It was marketed more as a nature preserve than a cemetery.

That movement is continuing to grow. There are now a dozen certified “green” cemeteries across the country, and over 60 certified green funeral homes. There’s a book out about how families have done green burials. More funeral homes are starting to notice the movement, and so are more media outlets.

The Clarion-Ledger shares this story from the Indianapolis Star.

Missing In America

Bob — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 00:45:30 +0000

As America pauses for Veteran’s Day to honor those who have helped create and save this country (and the rest of the world pauses for Armistice Day or Remembrance Day), the Associated Press has an article about veterans who are dying without next-of-kin to claim their remains. In many cases, these soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines are sitting on a shelf, still waiting for the honors due them.

Associated Press

Seattle’s KING5 report, which talks about potential liability issues

How many World War II veterans are left?

The Missing In America Project

And The Caisson Goes Rolling Along

Bob — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 15:15:58 +0000

There are two full-time military horse-drawn caisson sections in the country.

The 3d Infantry - The Old Guard - serves Arlington National Cemetery. The Caisson Section of the Military Honors Platoon at Fort Sam Houston serves Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery. Read more about what the Caisson Section does.

Put Up A Parking Lot

Bob — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 23:30:14 +0000

H/T to Final Embrace, who linked to Wesley Treat’s Roadside Resort. Treat found a cemetery surrounded by a parking lot, and wondered if there were more, so he went looking. Turns out there were.

I’d much rather see a small cemetery preserved like this, than see the graves moved. Columbus has seen at least two moved that I know of. On one occasion, a few graves were missed, due to old records. It seems appropriate to leave sacred ground alone, and let the dead rest.