Parting Stone, the New Mexico based start-up that takes cremated ash remains and turns them into what they term “Solidified Remains” recently sent out this press release celebrating their 10,000th family served in their short business history.

In the press release the company says this about their achievement, “This milestone marks a significant achievement in the company’s mission to provide a comforting, tangible alternative to conventional cremated remains and highlights an important shift in the modern grief experience in America.”

The company calls their solid form of cremated remains, which results in 40-80 small stones “a complete alternative to conventional “ashes.”

Related Article — In a somewhat related article the New York Post published this article recently titled, “How innovative cremation services are giving a new spin to the end of life”.   The article features Parting Stone but also mentions about a dozen other alternatives for cremated remains.

Tom Anderson
Funeral Director Daily

The article intimates that with the high percentage of cremations taking place there is also a feeling that burial of cremated remains, niche placement, and even home urn placement are not the preferred ways that people want to memorialize their cremated loved ones.  According to the article, “They (consumers) want customized events paired with tactile experiences. Not surprisingly, a creative movement memorializing ashes is now happening.”

To that end, there are many opportunities, wide and varied in scope, coming to market for the these consumers looking for another option and the article mentions many of them with links to the processes.

I would suggest that you read the article and learn of the options available.  Many of them offer commissions or margins to funeral directors who facilitate the sale and, in a business looking for increased revenue, that revenue may come in handy.

The NY Post article states, “According to the Cremations Association of North America’s 2022 Cremation Memorialization Research, almost one in four US households, or approximately 22 million families, have human cremated remains in their homes.”

Disclosure:  The author of this article for Funeral Director Daily is a shareholder of Parting Stone.

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“A servant’s attitude guided by Christ leads to a significant life”

It’s not your father’s Death Care world anymore.  Because if you are currently involved in the Death Care business it seems like everyday something new happens that we haven’t thought about before. . . .  and hadn’t happened in the past.

Recently this story broke about what happened on South Korea’s Jeju Island.  Jeju Island, as you can see here, is a small island off of the southern tip of South Korea.

It turns out that Jeju Island, which South Korea operates as a visa-waivered location to bolster tourism, recently was the site of a temple being broken into by tourists and selected cremated remains from a columbarium in the temple were stolen.  Some time later families of the deceased remains were notified of a ransom by the alleged thieves.  The ransom demanded $2 million in order to have the remains returned.

According to the above article “following a three-day search involving around 40 officers, police located and returned the urns to the families, Jeju police confirmed.”

Again according to the article, surveillance cameras in the temple captured the theft.  It is suggested that the thieves have been able to get off the island without being captured and South Korean authorities have asked Interpol for their help in apprehending the suspects.

Tom Anderson
Funeral Director Daily

Funeral Director Daily take:  Every day that I continue to look for articles on the world of Death Care it just seems to get stranger.  There’s plenty of articles about the theft of bronze flower vases from cemeteries and even some articles about watches and jewelry being stolen from casketed bodies at visitations.

It’s just a world that I’ve never thought about.  However, it reminds all of us that as funeral home owners/operators and as cemetery owner/operators we more than likely have some duty of care to do what we can do to limit loss of another’s property via theft..

It’s something that we should not have to think about, but in today’s world we do. . . . and, that’s a sad commentary to go into a weekend with.

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“A servant’s attitude guided by Christ leads to a significant life”

If you have read Funeral Director Daily for any length of time you will know that I am an advocate of “Permanent Memorialization” of loved ones.  My reason for that belief is pretty simple. . . 1)  It is just the way I was brought up and 2) I believe every life has meaning and should have the respect and memory of being remembered as long as possible.

By permanent memorialization I mean in a perpetually cared for cemetery, mausoleum, columbarium or other method, such as Better Place Forests or Great River Natural Burial, with some type of memorialization, such as a marker, designated to the deceased.  I should note that this “Memorialization” as I see it, can be done not only with casketed burial, but after cremation, alkaline hydrolysis, natural organic reduction, solidifying the cremated remains such as with Parting Stone, or any other method of final disposition.  What I think is “most important” is that there is some marker giving creedence to a “life that has been lived”.

Say what you will about my thoughts, but I think that remembrance and care is incredibly important for the future of humanity.  I’m a firm believer that the more “High Tech” we will become will create a synergy for “High Touch” as well — where we need connection to reality as a balance to the technology.

Here is an interesting video news story and print article of a single burial cemetery where the deceased was buried in 1833.  There was a small monument naming the deceased and today, almost 200 years later, people are still remembering her. In my book, it kind of gives reference and knowledge about a “life that has been lived”.

This Wikipedia article will give you information on all deceased U.S. Presidents and where they are buried.  It includes a photo of each of their burial monuments.  Interestingly enough, no deceased United States President has ever been cremated.  Vice-President Walter Mondale was cremated in 2021 but I believe he is the only Vice-President to be cremated.  I think it is important for our nation’s history that these Presidents are given this memorial permanence via their monuments that continues to reflect on the history of our nation.

Another bit of information foundational to the rest of this article is that this information from One World Memorials states that it is believed that one out of every three cremations has the cremated remains brought to a private home to be kept.  The United States has, it is estimated, over 2 million cremations per year which would, using this formula, mean that 600,000 to 700,000 cremated remains are brought to private homes annually.

It’s with that preamble that I’ve thought about the families of those in the North Carolina floods, or the Florida hurricanes, or most recently, the L.A. wildfires.  In L.A. alone it is estimated that 12,000 homes have been destroyed.  I cannot get over the human tragedy of not only losing your physical belongings but also losing the emotional bonds that are more than likely tied together by having your loved one’s cremated remains in proximity to you at your home.

This article that I found, dated in 2021,  titled “Recovering cremains in the aftermath of fires” points out:

One of the common threads that have surfaced from the interviews with the fire survivors is an appreciation of the non-material things in life. Although their experiences have been devastating and heartbreaking, they have all survived with renewed gratefulness for everything that they do have- memories, supportive family and friends, their health. They have come to terms with their losses and have new perspectives on what they value in life. The one material thing that they could not accept losing was the cremains of their loved ones. (Highlight provided by Funeral Director Daily)

Related Article —  “Day of Remembrance held at once forgotten cemetery”.  Loudon Now (VA)

Tom Anderson
Funeral Director Daily

Funeral Director Daily take:  We can probably chalk up the loss of cremated remains in disasters to the thought process that “the best laid plans can go awry”.  I’m guessing that very few who bring home cremated remains think about the loss of those precious remains via storms, hurricanes, floods, or fires.

And once that loss occurs. . . it is permanent and, for many, brings mental health challenges.

So, do we as funeral directors and advisors to these people have a greater responsibility than we seem to take at this time, to inform the clientele of what could happen without the idea of permanent memorialization?

Related Thought —  As cultural changes have occurred that includes many in the urban population living with pets such as dogs and cats, does this give greater creedence to pet cemeteries?

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“A servant’s attitude guided by Christ leads to a significant life”