Area firms take a new look at the end of life

By John Boyle

JBOYLE@CITIZEN-TIMES.COM

ASHEVILLE - For decades, most Americans have approached the funeral in the most traditional of ways: a cemetery burial plot, a vault, metal or ornate wood casket, an embalmed body and a formal funeral service.

But with the aging of the baby boom generation, an environmentally sensitive group that has always taken its own path, that is all changing. More people are opting for cremation - by 2025, 51 percent of Americans will choose cremation, up from 31 percent in 2005, according to the National Funeral Directors Association - but the trend goes beyond that.

Whether it's locally made urns for cremation remains, pinewood caskets made from locally harvested trees, or opting for a "green burial" in an environmentally sensitive cemetery, or even a home funeral - burials are changing.

"Really, with a lot of this, we're just kind of getting back to the old way of doing things," said Ron Prior, who founded Green Casket Co., a Candler company that makes plain pine caskets, with his wife, Kim Zorn.

Some folks are going high-tech, though, opting to remember loved ones through video obituaries.

Dale Groce, co-owner of Groce Funeral Home in Asheville, said 70 percent of their funerals remain traditional, but they are seeing more interest in cremation and in new features such as locally made urns.

"The whole thing, it goes from automobiles to funerals - everybody is trying to save the resources - and that's a good thing," Groce said.

A typical cremation will cost $1,500, as opposed to $8,000 for a standard funeral, Groce said. Consumers are opting for cremation, partly because of financial issues, but also because of environmental concerns.

Paul Harris, executive director of the N.C. Board of Funeral Service, the state's regulatory agency, said the state's 2,700 licensed funeral professionals realize they have to offer a wider array of services. North Carolina has 736 funeral homes and 86 crematories.

"I think the larger trend I see over the last few years is that people are not so much looking for the funeral homes to guide them, they're looking for the funeral homes to do what the consumers want them to do," he said.

Here are some new burial-related businesses and one planning a local expansion:

Green Casket Co.

Zorn and Prior, hope to fill a niche for all-natural pine caskets made with no polyurethane or other finishes.

"One of the things we like to tell people is our company is local, we use all local pine trees cut by local sawmills, and everything is biodegradable," said Zorn, a hospice nurse. "There's nothing toxic, nothing that's going to harm the earth."

They use the sawdust to fill a muslin pad in the casket, and the handles are made from hemp. Right now, Green Casket Co. is selling through local funeral homes, but they will do custom orders. Prices range from $1,000 to $1,500.

Contact information: Telephone 301-3916; Web site: www.greencasket.net.

Shine on Brightly

Adrienne Crowther spent seven years with the Asheville Area Arts Council, including a long run as director. When she left in 2007, she wanted to keep a connection to local artists and spotted a niche: locally made urns. She opened her business earlier this year.

"People are definitely looking for something unique and something personal," Crowther said. "Cremation is definitely on the rise, but most of the funeral industry carries all the same products."

Shine on Brightly offers urns or other containers made by local artists and designed to hold cremated remains. Some have compartments to hold a lock of hair or other keepsakes.

"The handcrafted urns and paperweights are extremely popular," said Groce, who sells Crowther's line.

Shine on Brightly also carries biodegradable urns - either unglazed pottery or plant fiber containers. And the business offers handcrafted books to hold photos and other mementos, other artwork to remember a loved one with and urns for pet ashes.

Contact info: Telephone, 348-0455 or 866-844-4469; Web site: www.shineonbright ly.com.

Memorial Ecosystems

A pioneer in the green burial field, Memorial established Ramsey Creek Reserve in Westminster, S.C., and Honey Creek Woodlands in Conyers, Ga., nature preserves where loved ones can be buried. The company was formed in 1996, but it's seen "more burials at Ramsey Creek the last two years than the eight years before that put together," said Kimberley Campbell, who founded the company with her husband, Dr. Billy Campbell. They've sold 473 plots out of 1,500 available.

Now they're looking for land in Western North Carolina, an environmentally aware region the Campbells consider a natural market.

"We have identified the land, and we're probably less than three months away," Kimberley Campbell said.

Burials are conducted with biodegradable caskets or shrouds, no vaults or metal caskets, and no embalmed bodies are allowed. At Ramsey Creek, which is about two hours from Asheville, burial sites range from $2,500 to $3,500.

In May, Asheville resident Rick Clark, 62, buried his wife of 19 years, Nancy Clark, at Ramsey Creek. She opted for a burial shroud and no casket. Rick Clark was the only one present when his wife's body was lowered into the gravesite, but a burial with friends and family followed.

"I have to say it was probably - and not just for me, but for all the people who came - one of most meaningful experiences we'd ever had," he said. "It didn't feel like it was a typical funeral with a lot of chemicals and embalming or even cremation. I'm happy there's a place like that, and I'm pleased to hear they're trying to find a place in the Asheville area."

Contact info: 111 W. Main St., Westminster, S.C. 29693; telephone, 864-647-7798 office, 864-324-2647 cell; e-mail: kimberley@memorial ecosystems.com; Web site, www.memorialecosystems .com

OB-TV, Obituary Television

When Stan Crumley buried his father, Lloyd H. Crumley, in March 2006, he wasn't fully satisfied with the newspaper obituary.

"We wanted to take it a step further and tell the story of this person's life," said Crumley, who worked in the television industry for 33 years, including a stint at WLOS/Channel 13.

In August, he opened OB-TV. The company incorporates family photos and video into videos that range from one and a half to three and a half minutes. Prices range from $400 to $515.

"We're finding more and more people are calling us well after someone has died, especially with Thanksgiving and Christmas coming up," Crumley said, explaining that families want a video they can view at family gatherings. "It's almost like you're bringing your loved one back into the room with you."

Contact info: OB-TV, 1796 Hendersonville Road, Asheville; telephone, 277-6755; Web site, www.ob-tv.com.

Center for End of Life Transitions

Caroline Yongue volunteers her time for this nonprofit project, helping families with end of life decisions and educating them about home funerals and burials on their own land.

"When you continue that care yourself after death, there's a great opportunity for closure," Yongue said. "It's an amazing journey to bathe them, to tend to them, to love them."

Home burials are illegal in the city of Asheville but allowed elsewhere in Buncombe County. Local planning and zoning officials can give information on rules in other counties.

North Asheville residents Laura and Tom Burke lost their 9-year-old daughter, Edie, in May. Laura Burke said they didn't want to turn Edie's body over to a funeral home and contacted Yongue about a home funeral.

The Burkes and other family cleaned and dressed Edie's body themselves and painted her nails. They placed her on a quilt made by a neighbor, laying her in her own bed for a visitation that drew neighbors and family, including children.

"Those kids wanted to get in and see Edie - it was very natural to them," Laura Burke said.

After the visitation, the Burkes placed her in a cardboard box to take her to the crematory. Family and friends decorated it with messages of love.

"For me, the hardest part was putting her in that box, but it was really cool because she was surrounded by all this love," Burke said.

Burke said she was amazed at how much time Yongue spent with them, and how helpful and caring she was.

"She really just kind of led us to what we wanted to do, without telling us what to do," Laura Burke said.

Contact information: Telephone, 676-9806; e-mail, cyongue@iglide.net; Web site: www.centerforendoflife transitions.com; mailing address, 171 Montford Ave., Asheville, 28801.

PHOTOS

ERIN BRETHAUER/EBRETHAU@CITIZEN-TIMES.COM

Adrienne Crowther sits with some of the urns created by the artists she represents Wednesday at her home. Green burials and cremation services are becoming increasingly popular.

STEVE DIXON/SDIXON@CITIZEN-TIMES.COM

Ron Prior sets the lid on a new casket at Zorn's Green Casket Co. in Candler. The company makes pinewood caskets from locally harvested trees.

To see a photo gallery of Shine On Brightly's urns, visit CITIZEN-TIMES.com

Area firms take a new look at the end of life By John Boyle JBOYLE@CITIZEN-TIMES.COM ASHEVILLE - For decades, most Americans have approached the funeral in the most traditional of ways: a cemetery burial plot, a vault, metal or ornate wood casket, an embalmed body and a formal funeral service. Paul Harris, executive director of the N.C. Board of Funeral Service, the state's regulatory agency, said the state's 2,700 licensed funeral professionals realize they have to offer a wider array of services.