Cremation discussion thread

[VINMAN]

Originally Posted by Baz

What's the difference, Vin?

Casket is the common fancy rectangular one. A coffin is the old fashioned body shaped one with the six sides.


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[rfuerst911sc]

Originally Posted by herr_oberst

I think you'd need something like the dry sump tank from a 3.2 liter Carrera to hold all the ashes.

Piston is too wee. The (c)remains are too mighty.

A quick Google search say's a 3-3.5 litre container will fit the remains of 99% of body sizes .

[herr_oberst]

Originally Posted by rfuerst911sc

A quick Google search say's a 3-3.5 litre container will fit the remains of 99% of body sizes .

So a little less than the size of a gallon of milk.

[pwd72s]

Just burn me...scatter wherever...won't matter to me.

[A930Rocket]

I will be cremated and my ashes spread out at VIR. If my wife wants to see me, she has to go to the track, unlike she did during my lifetime.

When she cremated her mother, she watched the body go in (in a cardboard box), the door closed and she pressed the button to fire it up. She came back later for the ashes.

[Baz]

Originally Posted by VINMAN

Casket is the common fancy rectangular one. A coffin is the old fashioned body shaped one with the six sides.


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I never was a very good carpenter so sounds like a casket would be more "fitting" for me...

[Captain Ahab Jr]

both of our previous dogs were cremated

we keep them on the window sill with the best view of our garden

[billybek]

My wife's first border collie was a runner and would disappear for days at a time.
Well true to form he (his ashes) is "lost" around the house somewhere...

I think cremation is a sensible solution to the end of life body storage problem.

[Sooner or later]

Burial or cremation is for the living friends and relatives. Dead guy don't care.

[Rusty Heap]

Cremated ashes to then be poured into concrete bio-habitats artificial reef system in the ocean...

https://www.eternalreefs.com/

[Jeff Hail]

Many options for cremation and disposition.

On a budget -

Let the county pick you up and have nobody claim you for four months. The county will cremate you. Then have someone claim you and pay the cremation fee which usually runs about $350. With the cost of burials its quite the bargain. The claimant will have to disclose what intends to be done with the ashes. If nobody claims your remain you will be placed in a communal mass grave which is usually 1 or two times per year. For instance in Los Angeles Country Evergreen Cemetery is where you will end up. Its all done with a service, dignity and pallet of maroon plastic boxes. No headstone just a small 4 inch marker which reflects the year of that burial batch.

Most counties now use private cremation service and have contracts for pricing. Walk in and street customers are where it gets expensive. The ones located near county hospitals tend to be much more reasonable in prices. Mortuary services are contractors and unless they have furnaces on site will farm you out to someone that does. You can tell by the chimney stacks on the roof.

Once you are cremated -

Average adult male weights about 11-14 pounds in cremains. You will be a mix of calcium carbonate, dental metals, resembling cement and kitty litter. Nothing scary. Pace maker batteries sometimes are removed for safety reasons by the coroner, sometimes not. Pace makers and artificial joints tend to stay with the body but are not consumed. Implants and joints will be discarded.

If you are going to rest eternally in a closet or mantel off you go in the maroon plastic box your cremains have been captured in and given a metal identification tag . Your remains can be transferred to an urn for tasteful display.

Dumping ashes at the beach. Check your state laws. In California it is technically legal but by Federal law any dumping at coastal waters its considered hazardous waste and subject to EPA fine of a whopping $15,000 if you release at shore. Has to be off shore 3.5 miles or further. Don't get caught dumping ashes. I know someone who did and they went to Federal court and wrote a big check. Not worth it when very reasonable options are available.

Burial at sea. (Unattended burial service). Its a great deal. You get a permit for $12 from the city and give the remains and permit to the service company. In California I have used Ventura Boat Rentals who is also a licensed service to perform these. The fee is $150 and the service collects about 2 months of remains from people and releases them in a single voyage the legal 3.5 miles or further from shore . They mail you a copy listing the GPS coordinates and they also mail a copy to the county where the burial at sea took place. Everything is easy, tidy, legal and you don't have to worry about some little child making sand castles with your remains.

Burial at sea (Attended). Self explanatory. It involves a boat. As many guests that can fit on the boat. Marine fuel fill up is expensive. It can get elaborate and expensive. They can mold your remains into a ring which will disintegrate in water and the fishys will taste you. They have intact burial at sea where they put your body in a permeable bag or box that is weighted and set you free to sink and decompose at natures whim. These are usually done about 5 miles off shore at specified depths since you sink to the bottom and nap for a while. Nature takes care of everything. Every time you have deep sea fish for a meal you will be reminded of your loved one and everyone else's for that matter.

Check your local services for burial at sea. If you are a VET the VA can provide assistance in burial matters for a plot, box, services at VA cemetery locations. I think the Navy does provide for burial at sea arrangements.

Burial at Sky-
Think of it as falling ashes. This is an air service. Your remains are placed in a metal tube outside the aircraft and released above a designated location and altitude. Just like cloud seeding. I have personally witnessed this at the beach with a large group of loved ones in wait while having a BBQ. The joke was on the loved ones at the time of release. Everyone mistook it for sand in the wind. The decedent had quite a sense of humor. He wanted a sky writer.

I encourage people to get creative. No do overs in life and its the one final act when your marquee goes dim. Make it count. Spare your loved one, spouse or grown children from having to do this and make these decisions until after you have met your maker. Plan ahead.

If anyone was offended by my slant I worked in a mortuary 40 years ago as a summer job. It was not my calling but I guess it did rub off a bit. Death is final, life is not, have a sense of humor.

[Steve Carlton]

[Baz]

Originally Posted by Sooner or later

Burial or cremation is for the living friends and relatives. Dead guy don't care.

I understand the point you are making - but consider that all of us in this thread are still alive - and (theoretically of course) it seems we do care.

[Baz]

Good friend of mine (and also a college roommate for one year) died a couple years ago and his ashes
were scattered in the surf here by another mutual friend - and a photo of this posted on FB.

As far as I know nothing came of it.

We are a boating community - as in everyone has one - so if someone wanted their ashes scattered at sea
- there wouldn't be any problem arranging it and it sure wouldn't cost anyone anything.

There's also the paddle out memorial for surfers which often includes ash scattering.....

The Not-So-Ancient Practice of Memorial Paddle-Outs

[Jeff Hail]

I'm a big fan of paddle outs. Friend of mines earlier this year in Kauai. She was one of the chefs at the Grand Hyatt and a spectacular dive instructor. RIP kiddo.

[Tishabet]

Here in the Puget Sound area it is not uncommon to be on a ferry (state-run ferry system) and have it pause mid-route while someone's ashes are tossed into the water (often along with flowers) and the captain makes an announcement and then sounds the horn. Then, the ferry continues on its way. Kind of neat TBH.

[HobieMarty]

Originally Posted by Seahawk

Both my parents were cremated. Their remains are at West Point per his wishes in a small stone memorial.

Put your desires in your Will and let the Executor deal with it. My ashes will be spread in three places: my favorite river in California that I kayaked a gillion times, the Potomac just off the farm here, and Dogs Beach in Coronado.

I am headed off this planet quietly, zero fanfare, just like my Dad. My Mom was beloved in SC and the funeral was frankly really hard for me and my Dad. There were a lot of people there and I just wanted to say good-bye.

No nothing (double negative, I know): So it is written, so let it be so. Everyone I love knows how I feel.

To quote Santini, the Great Santini: Buenos Dias, Rustpickers.

I have a friend who used to be a funeral director, in fact his family was in the funeral business. He always told me that funerals are actually for the living and not the dead.
Funerals are just too dang expensive and it is easy to be manipulated by those in the funeral industry when in a vulnerable emotional state of mind. My friend got out of the business when he felt like it was a "business" where he was encouraged to "upsale" things such as caskets and he didn't feel comfortable with that.
I think that cremation is the way to go also. I don't want my family to spend a lot of money on a funeral for me when that money could be used elsewhere for something that they could enjoy in my memory.

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[Bill Douglas]

I'm not sure if they still do it, but Rarotonga (near Fiji) did burials at sea. Not ashes, but bodies thrown overboard. Popular with foreigners, but horrified the locals. The sealife would have eaten the bodies in hours and the coral muncher fish would finish off the bones fairly quickly too.

[Aurel]

My father got cremated, and now I don’t know where his resting place is.
Recently my grandmother passed away, and we carried her coffin to the cemetery, where she will rest between her husband and son. Whenever I miss her, I will know where to go to remember her.

Personally I might prefer to be cremated, but for those left behind, cemeteries are nice places to keep trace and memory of family members.

[Googam]

Don't mean to throw this topic too of course, but I will add this alternative. My Father had donated his body to the local medical school for Anatomy instruction. They picked his body up from the house, after all the proper issues were resolved. They returned the ashes to us about 5 months later. There was a very nice program put on by the school for all the family members of people who had donated that semester. A very odd aside. One of my sons good friends was a student that semester. He said he saw Mr. Smith at his class that semester. Really spooked Justin, now M.D.