Funeral Coach Production Consolidated

February 2nd, 2010

Funeral Coaches

Funeral Coaches

With top funeral service vehicle brands Federal Coach and Eagle Coach gaining a combined double-digit market share increase in 2009, company leadership is now poised to continue that growth with the move of its Federal funeral coach production from Fort Smith, Arkansas to its manufacturing facility in Cincinnati, Ohio.

The transition of Federal funeral coaches to Cincinnati will occur in March 2010. The facility will manufacture the Renaissance, Heritage and Stratford models under the Federal name, and the Echelon, Ultimate, Kingsley and Coupe de Fleur models under the Eagle name. Each brand will maintain its own unique identity and will be sold and serviced by the current Federal and Eagle dealer networks. Federal and Eagle funeral limousines will be produced in the Fort Smith facility through 2010, then will migrate to Cincinnati.  The funeral service vans, for each brand, will continue to be built in Ohio.

The Cincinnati plant is well known in the funeral service industry for manufacturing some of the industry’s best coaches and specialty vehicles under the Eagle brand. The move enables the Specialty Vehicle Group (SVG) to become even more market driven, providing its nationwide dealer network and funeral directors with unrivaled products and services.

“With the top names in funeral cars coming together under one roof, we can leverage our resources in design, development and manufacturing to provide outstanding dealer support, greater product innovation and the absolute highest quality funeral vehicles available on the market,” says Fred Wolfinger, Eagle’s brand manager. “We pride ourselves not only on the cars we build, but also on the relationships we’ve built by being proactive and responsive to the market.”

“The move is a positive one for our organization, our dealer networks and most importantly, funeral directors and livery professionals,” says Randy Garner, brand manager of Federal Coach. “The consolidation will strengthen each brand – a positive sign for both Federal and Eagle customers.”

SVG leadership says it expects to add numerous new jobs in the Cincinnati facility in the coming year. The move is part of an overall corporate restructuring that will position the company for even greater success in the future.

The Specialty Vehicle Group (SVG) is comprised of the Eagle Coach and Federal Coach brands, and is a business unit of J.B. Poindexter & Co., Inc., of Houston, TX (www.jbpoindexter.com).   J.B. Poindexter & Co., Inc. is a diversified manufacturing company with 4,000 team members in over 35 facilities from Oregon to Florida and Saskatchewan to Mexico.  Revenues in three-quarter of a billion dollar range are generated through four divisions operating in the transportation and industrial product sectors.

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National Funeral Directors Association: Update on Haiti Assistance Efforts

January 31st, 2010
A Haitian boy receives treatment at a MINUSTAH logistics base.

A Haitian boy receives treatment at a MINUSTAH logistics base.

The members of the National Funeral Directors Association (NFDA), the National Funeral Directors and Morticians Association (NFD&MA), the Cremation Association of North America (CANA), the Casket and Funeral Supply Association of America (CFSA) and the Monument Builders of North America (MBNA) express their heartfelt sympathies to those affected by the earthquake that devastated Haiti on January 12. The associations’ members also wish to express their deepest concerns over the treatment of those who died in the earthquake.

The Haitian government has taken control of the mortuary response in Haiti and has neither asked for nor authorized assistance from any government or private organization. The heart-breaking images of those who died being placed in mass graves are shocking, and the members of NFDA, NFD&MA, CANA, CFSA and MBNA believe the people of Haiti deserve better. They have lost so much and are experiencing a variety of emotions as they struggle to survive; seeing people who may be family or friends being put in mass graves only compounds their grief.

The associations are also worried about the fate of American citizens and individuals with dual Haitian and American citizenship who died in the earthquake. As of January 23, the Department of State reports that the identities of 45 American citizens who died in the earthquake have been confirmed. However, thousands remain missing. There are concerns that the remains of these missing individuals may be placed in one of the mass graves or may forever be lost in the rubble. The news story “Relatives of Americans Missing in Haiti Angry,” from The Washington Post (http://bit.ly/6snn87), sheds light on the pain and anguish these families are experiencing.

Said NFDA member Michael Gunderud, of Krowicki-McCracken Funeral Home in Linden, N.J., “The events in Haiti have left many funeral directors eager to assist families ship identified remains to the United States. We have been called upon to fulfill a duty, yet remain helpless in our efforts. Such a situation should be addressed with aggressive action, and it [is] disheartening that [I am] unable to perform the duty that I was called upon to do.”

There is a tremendous willingness within the funeral service, memorialization and mass-casualty response communities in America — both government resources, such as Disaster Mortuary Operational Response Teams, and private resources, such as the hundreds of funeral directors who have volunteered to travel to Haiti  — to assist the Haitian government with the respectful treatment of the dead. The members of the funeral service, memorialization and mass-casualty communities are willing to help the Haitian government with all those who died in the earthquake — regardless of citizenship — so that, where possible, they can be returned to their families for a dignified funeral, burial and memorialization.

Funeral and deathcare professionals have stepped forward in a number of natural disasters — from Hurricane Katrina to the earthquake and tsunami that impacted Southeast Asia — and have reunited thousands of families with the remains of their loved ones, affording them the opportunity to have funerals or memorial services. The funeral service and memorialization community believes it can do this for Haiti, and all nations that saw their citizens die in the earthquake.

Funeral directors are entrusted to care for the living through the respectful and dignified treatment of those who died. The outpouring of humanitarian relief from the United States to the people of Haiti is to be applauded and admired, for it is desperately needed; however, in not taking swift action to care for those who died, this country fails to offer a fully compassionate response.

The members of NFDA, NFD&MA, CANA, CFSA and MBNA call on those in the federal government who are leading this country’s response in Haiti to take swift action by urging the Haitian government to allow the funeral service, memorialization and mass-casualty response communities in the United States and around the world to assist with the respectful and dignified treatment of those who died in the earthquake.

Please visit www.nfda.org/haiti for the latest news and information on the mortuary response in Haiti. This Web page will be updated daily or as new information becomes available.

Funeral service professionals interested in volunteering in Haiti may call the National Funeral Directors Association at 800-228-6332. NFDA staff is collecting contact information in order to keep interested parties abreast of ways they might be able to assist the federal government and funeral service professionals in Haiti, should their service prove necessary. NFD&MA members may call 800-434-0958 to place their name on their association’s volunteer list. MBNA members may call 800-233-4472 to place their name on their association’s volunteer list.

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Deathcare Careers: Medical Examiner

January 29th, 2010
Heart of a murder victim

Heart of a murder victim

The medical examiner (ME) career is an American invention that has existed for only a century. Medical examiners, for the most part, are appointed to their positions and must be licensed physicians with extensive formal training in medical and legal death investigations. Unlike a coroner, the medical examiner is expected to use his or her medical expertise to find out how a person died.

Medical examiners often visit the scenes of deaths or crimes to examine corpses and to look for evidence that the police may not recognize as being related to the cause of death. They need to determine the identity of the deceased person, the exact time of death, the manner of death and the medical cause of death. According to the Career Guide for Medical Examiner from the State of Virginia, the following tasks are required from that state’s medical examiner position:

  1. Investigate sudden and unnatural deaths.
  2. Perform forensic medicine and pathology consultations.
  3. Counsel families regarding manner and cause of death.
  4. Act as a resource for forensic pathology and general forensic science information.
  5. Testify in court to facts and conclusions disclosed by autopsies performed by the examiner, or as directed or in the presence of the examiner.
  6. Make physical examinations and tests incident to any matter of a criminal nature up for consideration before either court or district attorney when requested to do so.
  7. Perform such other duties of a pathological or medicolegal nature as may be required.
  8. Serve subpoenas requiring the attendance of witnesses at any inquest to be held by such medical examiner, or other order or writs.

Medical examiners also want to know if a weapon was used. Sometimes, weapons are not ordinarily thought of as weapons (such as baseball bats, etc.), so medical examiners need to collect this evidence along with any hair, fibers, bodily fluids and trace chemicals to help that medical examiner reconstruct the way a person died.

You must first earn a medical degree to work as a medical examiner, and your best bet would be to find a medical degree with a forensic specialty. Often, some states may require a degree in pathology as well.

While there are many different specialties involved with the job as a medical examiner, you are not expected to know everything. Medical examiners often hire forensic scientists to perform autopsies to determine the cause of a person’s death and to assist with different techniques necessary to conduct a precise and accurate investigation.

However, if you know where you’d like to live and work, you might learn more about that locality’s requirements for a medical examiner. For instance, Anoka County, Minnesota requires that their medical examiners:

While these requirements are specific to this particular Minnesota county, you may find that their specifications would be a benefit to any medical examiner’s job throughout the U.S.

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VA Opens Washington Crossing National Cemetery

January 26th, 2010

New VA cemetery open in PennsylvaniaSecretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki announced the opening of the 131st national cemetery with the first burials taking place Jan. 20 at Washington Crossing National Cemetery in Newtown, Pa.

“With the opening of this new national shrine, many thousands of Pennsylvania and New Jersey Veterans and their families will have interment options available nearby, in a setting that is worthy of their service,” said Secretary Shinseki. “Providing lasting tributes to their sacrifices is one of VA’s most honorable missions, and one we are proud to fulfill.”

Administered by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), the new 205-acre national cemetery in the Philadelphia area will serve Veterans’ needs for at least the next 50 years. The cemetery, which will serve approximately 580,000 Veterans in the Philadelphia metropolitan area, is located in Bucks County, north of Philadelphia, about three miles northwest of Interstate 95 and less than three miles from Washington Crossing Historic Park.

In January 2008, VA awarded a design contract to Cairone & Kaupp Inc. of Philadelphia. VA has completed a 12-acre early burial area with temporary facilities, which will be followed by a second, larger construction stage of the project.

When that stage is completed, the 64-acre development will provide 15,500 full-casket gravesites, including 15,100 pre-placed crypts, 6,500 in-ground cremation sites and 4,100 columbarium niches.

The new cemetery will also include an administration and public information center complex and public restrooms, a maintenance facility, a cemetery entrance area, a flag assembly area and committal shelters for funeral services. Other infrastructure design elements include roadways, landscaping, utilities and irrigation.

The state’s other VA cemeteries are Philadelphia National Cemetery, Indiantown Gap National Cemetery and the National Cemetery of the Alleghenies. The Philadelphia National Cemetery no longer has burial space.

Veterans with a discharge issued under conditions other than dishonorable, their spouses and eligible dependent children can be buried in a VA national cemetery. Also eligible are military personnel who die on active duty, their spouses and eligible dependents. Other burial benefits available for all eligible Veterans, regardless of whether they are buried in a national cemetery or a private cemetery, include a burial flag, a Presidential Memorial Certificate and a government headstone or marker. Families of eligible decedents may also order a memorial headstone or marker when remains are not available for interment.

In the midst of the largest expansion since the Civil War, VA operates 131 national cemeteries in 39 states and Puerto Rico and 33 soldiers’ lots and monument sites. More than three and a half million Americans, including Veterans of every war and conflict, are buried in VA’s national cemeteries on nearly 19,000 acres of land.

Information on VA burial benefits can be obtained from national cemetery offices, from the Internet at www.cem.va.gov or by calling VA regional offices toll-free at (800) 827-1000.

For information on Washington Crossing National Cemetery, call the cemetery office at (215) 504-5610. To make burial arrangements at the time of need, call the national cemetery scheduling office at (800) 535-1117.

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Top Veterinary School Pet Loss Hotlines

January 25th, 2010

A boy and his dog.

Don’t feel embarrassed if you can’t seem to get over the death of a beloved pet. Pets mean many things to people, and it doesn’t matter your age — the loss of a pet engenders the same feelings of grief that any loss would generate. Fortunately, grief counseling and pet loss support hotlines are available, and

The value behind helping people through the loss of their pets enables these students to become the best veterinarians. No matter if you’ve lost a long-lived goldfish or a prize-winning horse, the grief is the same, and these groups are here to help you.

The following list of top pet loss hotlines are located in universities throughout the U.S. Remember that these hotlines are not for mental health…they are for pet loss and pet grieving only.

  1. College of Veterinary Medicine: This college is located at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Their Companion Animal Related Emotions (C.A.R.E.) Pet Loss Helpline is a confidential service, and they maintain a toll-free number. The C.A.R.E. Helpline was developed to provide a supportive outlet for people experiencing the actual or anticipated loss of their cherished companion animal.
  2. Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine Hotline: Literature relating to pet loss and grief is maintained by the hotline and available for mailing to callers who request information. Articles about the human-animal bond and grief are provided for the education of student volunteers and, together with the experience from the hotline, help to prepare the students for the emotional side of veterinary practice.
  3. Michigan State University College of Veterinary Medicine: This group offers both a pet loss support hotline and a pet loss support group. The Pet Loss Support Group, run by Veterinary Social Work Services at MSU’s Veterinary Teaching Hospital, offers a safe place for individuals and families to express their feelings and talk about their experiences. The hotline is offered on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays and if you leave a message, they will return your call.
  4. Washington State University Pet Loss Support: The College of Veterinary Medicine at Washington State University offers pet loss information through a group of students who have been trained in grief counseling by a licensed therapist. Many of those volunteers have experienced the loss of a pet and are there to help you through this difficult time. By helping others through their loss they hope to become better, more compassionate veterinarians.
  5. Tufts University Pet Loss Support Hotline: Modeled after the pet loss hotline at the University of California, Davis (which has been eliminated because of budget concerns), the Tufts University Pet Loss Support hotline began as the initiative of former veterinary student Tammy Pierce V’97. Since its inception in January 1996, over 100 veterinary students have served on the hotline. Every staff member participates in extensive training sessions with a licensed psychologist, learning about the process of grieving and how people react to the loss of pets.
  6. University of Florida Veterinary Medical Center: University of Florida Veterinary Medical Center (UFVMC) recognizes, respects, and supports the human-animal bond. They hope that after reading the material in their website you will understand that it is natural to grieve the loss of a beloved animal friend and that you are not alone in your grief. Their hotline is available on weekdays.

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Funeral Director Fatigue Syndrome

January 24th, 2010

Balance work with life.

Are you a funeral director, or do you know one who seems cynical, who is lacking in energy and who seems depressed at times? One of the lessons that I learned as an alcoholism and drug counselor is that the “helpers often need help.” The reason behind this adage is the company that caregivers keep — a funeral home is a business, but that business can cause burnout as well.

What are the signs of this burnout, or funeral director fatigue syndrome? Dr. Alan D. Wolfelt outlines this syndrome in his book, Funeral Home Customer Service A-Z: Creating Exceptional Experiences for Today’s Families. His list of symptoms are based upon psychologist Christina Maslach’s signs of burnout, and he poses the symptoms as a list of questions in a survey:

  • Do you generally feel fatigued and lacking in energy?
  • Are you getting irritable, impatient and angry with people around you (home and/or work)?
  • Do you feel cynical toward and detached from the families you serve?
  • Do you suffer from mroe than your share of physical complaints, such as headaches, stomachaches, backaches and long-lasting cols?
  • Do you generally feel depressed or notice sudden fluctuations in your moods?
  • do you feel busy, yet have a sense that you don’t accomplish much at all?
  • Do you have difficulty concentrating or remembering?
  • Do you think you have to be the one to help all bereaved families that come through your door?
  • Do you feel less of a sense of satisfaction about your helping efforts than you have in the past?
  • Do you feel that you just don’t have anything more to give?

According to Dr. Wolfelt, if you answered “yes” to 2-4 of those questions, you may be in the early phases of funeral director fatigue syndrome. If you answered “yes” to 5-7 questions, you are moving quickly into the direction of total fatique. if you answered “yes” to eight or more questions, you are, without a doubt, burned out!

Unfortunately, Dr. Wolfelt does not provide a solution to this problem. But, you can read more about this issue at Caregiver Burnout, an article at Caregiver.com. Some of their strategies for dealing with burnout include staying fit, consulting with other professionals and pampering yourself on occasion.

The thing to remember is that you may not recognize that you are in the grips of burnout until it’s too late. Be open to what others say to you, especially if you know that person is someone who cares about your and your well being.

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Virginians Have Access to Training at Well-Known Department of Forensic Science

January 23rd, 2010

Virginia Forensic Science Academy Logo

The Department of Forensic Science (DFS) is a nationally accredited forensic laboratory system serving all of Virginia’s state and local law enforcement agencies, medical examiners, and Commonwealth’s Attorneys. Their examiners provide technical assistance and training, evaluate and analyze evidence, interpret results, and provide expert testimony related to the full spectrum of physical evidence recovered from crime scenes. According to the Web site:

The Forensic Training Section services the entire Criminal Justice System and in particular, over ten thousand law enforcement officers throughout the Commonwealth. Each year, approximately 20-30 programs of varying length and complexity are offered and about 600 – 700 officers are exposed to technical training. This training concerns the many services offered by the forensic laboratory of the Department of Forensic Science, so that the laboratory value of evidence discovered at a crime scene will be recognized and that the evidence will be properly handled.

Training Section also has the responsibility of the Virginia Forensic Science Academy, a 10-week school of crime scene technology. After successfully completing the 10-week course, the law enforcement officers should be able to demonstrate proper techniques of locating, recognizing and collecting items of physical evidence. They should also be able to preserve items of physical evidence, recognize the laboratory potential of examining physical evidence, properly package and submit physical evidence, and interpret a crime scene to develop a profile of a possible suspect.

Each year, Academy graduates are invited to attend a three-day retraining seminar to keep them abreast of changes in the areas of forensic science and evidence handling. In addition, one day workshops are presented to review problem areas involving physical evidence collection and to present case studies which illustrate evidence handling approaches and techniques.

Once a student has completed the courses, they have a choice of becoming active with the Forensic Science Adadamy Alumni Association. The goals of this organization are to bolster the work of the Forensic Science Academy as well as to encourage high standards of conduct by all crime scene processors.

The Department of Forensic Science is jointly involved with the Virginia Commonwealth University’s (VCU) forensic science programs. VCU offers both a B.S. and a M.S. in forensic science. The Master of Science in Forensic Science is one of only 15 of its kind in the United States and the lecture/laboratory courses are taught at the DFS Central Laboratory. More information about both programs can be found at http://www.has.vcu.edu/forensics.

For additional information on education opportunities and a career brochure visit the American Academy of Forensic Sciences Web site.

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Aging in Stride

January 22nd, 2010

Caregivers take note...

Caregivers and relatives of the elderly might be interested in a publication and Web site offered by Aging in Stride. The book is geared toward a wide range of seniors, including people in their 70s and older, as well as Baby Boomers who are using it as they care for aging parents, and as they themselves enter their senior years. The book, published by IlluminAge Communication Partners, a division of Caresource Healthcare Communications, Inc., offers the following information:

  • 45 aging issues discussed clearly and honestly
  • Strategies to help you plan ahead and make smart choices
  • Forms to help you get organized and stay on track
  • Access to more resources online and in your community
  • Online reader support center for extra copies of forms and direct click-through to online resources.

The site also offers information that is free for anyone who wants to know about emergency readiness for older adults and caregivers, information about how to improve your life as you age and information about laying a foundation for health and happiness in your retirement years. The site includes the ability to sign up for an eNewsletter along with free forms for information and courses.

For example, they states that although seniors made up only 15 percent of the population of New Orleans before Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, according to Knight Ridder, 74 percent of the hurricane victims were older adults. These events served as a grim reminder that older adults are disproportionately at risk in disaster situations, and emergency preparation is an even greater concern for this population.

The U.S. Administration on Aging’s National Family Caregiver Support Program and Caresource Healthcare Communications, Inc. are pleased to announce the new consumer guide Just in Case: Emergency Readiness for Older Adults and Caregivers. This free consumer resource includes a 12-page fact sheet and checklist that will help older adults and caregivers prepare for emergencies. Special emphasis is placed on issues that affect older adults, disabled persons, and their caregivers due to medical conditions, physical challenges, assistive devices, and mobility issues. Just in Case presents an easy-to-do three step approach to emergency preparedness:

  • Step 1 focuses on a handful of essential things a person should know
  • Step 2 covers emergency supplies, both for surviving at home and for evacuation if necessary
  • Step 3 is creating a personal plan that takes into account a person’s own unique medical and physical needs.

“Just in Case” is a supplement to Aging in Stride. The new supplement is available as a free consumer resource online at the Aging in Stride website www.aginginstride.org or on the Administration on Aging’s website www.aoa.gov. Purchasers of the book Aging in Stride will also receive a complementary hard copy with their purchase. Aging in Stride is available for $24.95 plus shipping and handling at www.aginginstride.org or by calling 800-448-5213.

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Georgia Funeral Home Goes Green

January 21st, 2010

White Columns Web site

Soenso Energy president, Roger K. Cone, announced late last year that work is complete on the installation of a solar photovoltaic (PV) system on the roof of White Columns Funeral Chapel in Mableton, Georgia. This is believed to be the first installation of clean, renewable solar power on a funeral home in the state of Georgia. The 5.8kW system is designed to offset approximately 40 percent of the annual electricity energy needs of this facility in south Cobb County.

White Columns Funeral Chapel’s new solar PV array consists of twenty-eight 210W Schuco-USA solar PV modules mounted on a south-facing portion of the funeral home’s roof. The PV modules generate DC power that is fed into a 5000W SMA-America inverter. The inverter converts the DC power to AC power. The AC power is fed into the electrical panel of the building where it is dispersed wherever needed throughout the facility. The building uses this solar-generated electricity first and, if needed, seamlessly and automatically pulls from the utility grid to keep the facility fully powered.

Currently there are generous Federal and Georgia financial incentives in place for commercial installations of renewable energy. For commercial solar PV installations the Federal incentive is a 30 percent income tax credit or grant, and the Georgia incentive is a 35 percent income tax credit or rebate. There are published maximum limits on Georgia renewable energy incentives.

Owned and operated by the Gene Davis family which has been serving Mableton, Austell, Powder Springs, and Lithia Springs, Georgia, since 1964. On the Web: http://www.whitecolumnsfuneralchapel.com, Phone: 770-948-0113, Location: 1115 Clay Road, Mableton, GA 30126.

Senseo Energy is located in Marietta, Georgia, near Atlanta. they are a leading supplier and installer of commercial and residential renewable energy products – solar thermal hot water systems, solar photovoltaic (PV) for generating electricity and small wind turbines for generating electricity. These renewable energy technologies qualify for Federal and Georgia clean energy income tax credits. On the Web: http://www.soenso.com.

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New England Burials at Sea LLC Expands Fleet & Territory

January 18th, 2010

lighthouse

New England Burials At Sea (NEBAS), now the northeast’s largest burial at sea provider, is expanding its charter fleet by now offering larger vessels that can accommodate up to 400 people with affordable, individualized and personal memorial ash scattering and full body sea burials from Boothbay Maine to the Mid Atlantic area (the Carolinas) and to the west coast of the USA through approved affiliates. They are recommended and fully insured.

NBAS now offers attended or unattended year round memorial cruises for traditional ash scatterings or complete full body casket free eco friendly sea burials, both per strict U.S. Coast Guard and EPA regulations, presided over by a USCG licensed vessel captain (and a licensed funeral director for full body committals). Serving all faiths with personalized services.

NEBAS recently introduced the industry’s first patent pending Atlantic Sea Burial Shroud® for full body sea burials. The soft-sided shroud is hand stitched in New England and designed as an ocean friendly burial alternative that is more cost effective than the price of a full wood or metal casket. It is suitable for pre voyage funeral home viewings and comes in a variety of earth tone colors with custom monogramming available. The shroud is made from natural materials and is designed to degrade in a few short months offering a true “eco-friendly” sea burial.

Captain Brad White recently announced, “Our business has grown quickly as we are now recommended by many funeral homes and crematories for cost efficient sea burial services in a professional and dignified manner within 48 hours of families request.”

Available options are ocean friendly flowers arrangements including hand woven sea wreaths & urns. Digital and video photography of the service is available for online photo shows and full documentation of the event. White recently announced that live event simulcasting can also be broadcast worldwide to friends and family members that may not be able to attend but who can easily log online to witness in real time. (Available in 2010). Special requests are also welcome.

For ash scatterings, the vessel voyages three nautical miles to sea and scatters ashes with a customized family sea tribute service. At the close of the service, loved ones receive a commemorative distinguished parchment burial certificate indicating the date, time, depth and exact latitude and longitude of the ceremony so that area can be visited at a later date. Also included is an aerial ocean photo view of the location and a Sea Bottle™ filled with the specific area’s water, sand and indigenous sea shells that are wax capped sealed and hanked with sailor’s marlin wrap as a keepsake of the event.

Typical vessels range in size from 30′ to 65′ feet for up to 50 passengers and up to 100′-125′ for up to 400 passengers. Departure Port locations vary from Maine to South Carolina. All vessels are equipped with state-of-the-art electronics and all required safety gear.

Burial at Sea Services offered

  • Private ash scattering cruises with family
  • Unattended ash scattering –Captain’s service
  • Full Body Ocean Burials –With family
  • Ceremonies for Pets’ Ashes
  • Memorial Cruises to the same coordinates on future anniversaries also available

Sea tribute services may be attended or unattended and can also be viewed from the shore. Prices vary by market but typically start at $495 (unattended) to $895.00 (attended by party of six) to up to $2,500 for larger families up to 35. Voyages for 35- 400 are very reasonable. Ash scattering services are also available for beloved pets for $95 (unattended) to $395 (attended).

The company is building a network of approved and qualified sea burial certified captains ™ on the east coast of the USA with affiliates recently established on the West Coast.

Sea Burials are affordable dignified alternatives to traditional burials. NEBAS ensures a loved one a final resting place at sea, while relieving family of significant financial burdens in their time of distress. Requests can usually be accommodated within 24-48 hours of the first call, depending upon location, weather conditions and season.

Learn more about New England Burials at Sea from their Web site.

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