Category Archives: Articles

The story of family and friends who pulled together to say goodbye to their mother, wife, daughter, sister, colleague and friend – and in the process found they had created magic. www.nogreysuits.org

Top Five Regrets of The Dying

US Catholic Magazine, Nov 2011 Think Outside the Box

Article appeared in the Star Tribune, 11-30-11, a publication in Minneapolis, MN  

An article about home funerals from the Christian Century. October 06, 2009 A family undertaking: Caring for our dead by Holly Stevens When Harriet Ericson died in January 2007 at age 93, she went to the grave in the same manner … Continue reading →

New York Times Article about home funerals July 20, 2009

[Archive of Austin American-Statesman article] By CHRIS GARCIA Cox Newspapers, Sunday, July 25, 2009 AUSTIN, Texas — No one wants to die, but Fleur Hedden goes ahead and volunteers anyway. A tall woman, she clambers atop a long country-kitchen table … Continue reading →

Source: http://www.pnwlocalnews.com/whidbey/swr/business/44617347.html By Patricia Duff, South Whidbey Record Arts & Entertainment, Island Life, May 09 2009 Death, in a sense, is a denouement. It follows the climax of life. In it, a person plays out the final act of one’s … Continue reading →

Source: http://www.obit-mag.com/viewmedia.php/prmMID/6022 An excellent article about home funerals including a photo of a home-made coffin by Joyce Mitchell. A Full Measure of Devotion by Joyce Gemperlein, MAY 12, 2009 Would you, could you, say goodbye to a deceased family member … Continue reading →

“A home funeral is a noncommercial, family-centered response to death that involves the family and its social community in the care and preparation of the body for burial or cremation and/or in planning and carrying out related rituals or ceremonies … Continue reading →

By JODEE TAYLOR, Traverse City Record-Eagle,   TRAVERSE CITY — Bob Butz is going to build his own coffin. It may double as a coffee table or bookshelves until he needs it. Butz, 38, is a Lake Ann author whose … Continue reading →

Author James Reston Jr. discovers firsthand what is gained and lost when history is turned into entertainment Source By Max Alexander, Smithsonian magazine, March 2009 Two funerals, two days apart, two grandfathers of my two sons. When my father and … Continue reading →

A small, but growing, group of activists seeks to reform the funeral industry. by Brendan Kiley Newsweek Web Exclusive Jul 3, 2008 James Green is dead. He’s lying on a classroom table—eyes closed, hands across his chest—while Donna Belk, who lectures … Continue reading →

For the Homeless and the Indigent, Dying is a Lonely Business, Done Without Ceremony Most of us know that when we die, we can expect someone to oversee the disposition of our bodies. Even if we never discuss death and … Continue reading →

Family members help lower Pansy Anna Palmer’s coffin, covered by a quilt, into her grave in a “green” cemetery in South Carolina. After a Baptist service, she was buried in a wooded grove in a biodegradable casket.Ashes blasted out of … Continue reading →

Small but growing trend helps people reclaim death rituals, experts say When Pam Howley’s 17-year-old daughter died of brain cancer in 2005, she knew one thing: “I did not want her embalmed.”

You can’t take it with you, but you may not want to give thousands to a funeral home and florists. Talk to your loved ones about their wishes and tell them yours.

When Imam Abdullah El-Amin’s closest friend died 18 months ago, he ritually bathed his friend’s body, anointed him with oil and fragrant herbs and wrapped him in a simple white burial shroud.

Green burials offer an eco-friendly alternative to traditional methods If you’re like most people, you probably think that your environmental footprint disappears from the planet once you’re dead and gone. After all, what harm could you possibly do? But it … Continue reading →

Personal touches reflect personalities of departed in funerals held at home The rich, full life that Betsy Brack led could be seen everywhere. This was her home, after all.Her clothes hung in the closets. Her favorite jewelry was laid out … Continue reading →

When 90-year-old Daniel Shuck died of a heart attack in June, his family members didn’t call a funeral home. They went to St. Vincent Regional Medical Center, dressed him in clean clothes — nothing fancy, just what he usually wore … Continue reading →

Reclaiming the realities and rituals of death By Nancy Rommelmann LA Times, 2/06/05 For centuries in America, we tended to our dead. People died at home, and relatives prepared the body, laid it out in the parlor and sat by … Continue reading →

Many Bereaved Opting to Bypass Funeral Industry After Richard Saul died of Lou Gehrig’s disease just before Christmas last year at age 77, neighbors and friends gathered at his Cleveland Park home to extend sympathies to his widow, Judy, and … Continue reading →

Family and friends gathered together to give Jacksonville sexton a fitting farewell Wayne Maxson’s family members wanted his funeral to be just so. Instead of turning to a funeral home, they decided to do it themselves.

ChrisTina Leimer: Because of my research on how American funeral and memorial practices are changing, I’ve known about your work for a few years. I’d like to talk a little about what a home funeral is and why people do … Continue reading →

Some want to be remembered with lavish services, others want their remains launched into space. Bob Prater envisioned his passing in simpler terms: A funeral at home. Very few Americans opt for funerals in their homes — there’s no firm … Continue reading →