Kansas City, Mo. – The dead are not content to just sit on the mantel anymore.
As the number of cremations grows – 32 percent of U.S. deaths led to cremation in 2005, compared with 21 percent in 1996, according to the National Funeral Directors Association – the demand has risen for companies and organizations that can help deal with the remains, either fulfilling a loved one’s wishes or finding a final resting place more exotic than a family urn.
Bill Metzger said he’s seen a 50 percent increase in customers over the past year for his business, Final Flights, which uses his Piper Cherokee to scatter ashes above Southern California sites, such as La Jolla, Big Bear or the Catalina Islands. He said he does six to 10 scatterings a month at a cost of $300 to $500, depending on distance and fuel prices.
“When I get a call and I explain what we do, people are stunned; they didn’t know something like this existed,” Metzger said. “It just seemed … a happy way of doing things, as opposed to a somber scattering at sea or placing in a columbarium (crypt).”
Mark Smith, president of the Chicago-based Cremation Association of North America, said the majority of cremated remains still go home with loved ones for burial or safekeeping. But his association did a study last year that found that 21.7 percent of remains are destined to be scattered, up from 17.8 percent in 1997.
Smith said much of that growth is coming as funeral home directors increasingly offer scattering services in their funeral packages or at least broach the subject of alternative disposition of the ashes, something traditional-minded families may have never considered.
He added that some relatives choose scattering because they worry about possibly losing the remains or subsequent generations letting the ashes lay forgotten in a closet or attic.
The most popular scattering option is water, according to the Cremation Association’s study, although land-based scattering has grown from 27 percent to 40 percent since 1997.
Joanie West of Crystal River, Fla., has taken a different angle with her company, The Eternal Ascent Society. She launches cremated remains inside a large, helium-filled balloon. Once it reaches a height of 5 miles, it pops, distributing the ashes to the winds.
