More people are making it their wish to be cremated
And Washington is a leader of the trend.

By KRISTIN DIZON
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER

When Leon Provazek's wife and daughter picked up his cremated remains, the longtime insurance agent was in an "ugly brown box" in a shopping bag.

"At first I thought, 'Gee, this is odd,' " said daughter Penné Richman of Edmonds. The women had an errand to run and decided to bring Leon, who died in January at the age of 79 after a 15-year battle with prostate cancer. "We took him shopping with us. We took him to lunch with us. We kind of almost talked to him."

In June, the family took a boat out on the Puget Sound and scattered Provazek's remains in front of the Mukilteo condo where he had lived with his wife of 58 years, Janey.

While they played one of his favorite tunes, "Stardust," Richman and her sister, Kathleen Provazek, released their father into the water with rose petals. They shared a champagne toast, telling their dad that they loved and missed him.

"I had this feeling that he was being released from pain, released from death and released back into life," said Richman.

Both sisters keep a small bit of their dad's cremains around their necks -- Provazek in a lapis medallion from India, Richman in a small silver cross.

Their decision on how to deal with their father's body was part of a quiet revolution under way in one of the biggest rites of passage: death.

More people in this country are choosing cremation than ever before. And, given that cremation was for years castigated by many as an uncivilized, irreligious, cheap way to "dispose" of a loved one, the recent shift is immense.

Just 4 percent of the dead were cremated in this country in 1967, but that number had climbed to 26 percent by 2000.

Washington is one of the states leading the way. Nearly 60 percent of bodies here go into a fire rather than into the ground. Washington has the third-highest cremation rate in the country, surpassed only by Hawaii and Nevada.

Cremation numbers remain low in some areas, particularly the South and Midwest, but continue to grow nationally. By 2010, cremation is projected to rise to 40 percent across the nation and to more than 65 percent in Washington.

"I think it probably will never be 100 percent, but I fully expect it to reach 75 to 80 percent in this state (one day)," said James Noel, executive director of the Washington State Funeral Directors Association.

Why Washington?

Leon Provazek did not want to be placed in a hole in the ground. He openly discussed with family his wish to be scattered in Puget Sound.

His wife and the couple's five children also wish to be cremated. "I would rather have this right here," said Janey Provazek, cradling her turquoise keepsake urn with a small amount of her husband's remains, "than traveling out to the funeral grounds every Memorial Day."

Penné Richman said her father felt the same way.

"His feeling was, 'What does it matter? I don't want to take up space,' " Richman said. "The space should be for the living."

Such environmental concerns resonate with many Washingtonians, and are the second most-cited reason that people choose cremation, according to a national survey.

There are many other reasons why cremation is so popular here.

For one, the West isn't as tradition-oriented as other areas of the country. Many transplants to Washington don't have extended family in the region, so it makes less sense for many of them to have a grave here.

Cremated remains, or cremains, are portable and far cheaper to ship than a body. They can be sent through the U.S. Postal Service or as checked luggage on airplanes.

The fact that Washington is the state with the second-highest percentage of residents who don't go to church or belong to a religious congregation is also a large factor, said Bill Metcalf, manager of Wiggen & Sons, Green Lake Funeral Home and Bayside Crematory.

Religion and cost

For those who identify with a religion, different faiths have different traditions when it comes to cremation.

While many Christians have traditionally chosen burial -- mirroring Jesus' entombment and the belief that the body and the spirit are one and must be whole for resurrection -- others have not, particularly some liberal Protestants. The Catholic Church lifted its ban on cremation in 1963.

While most Muslims prefer burial, a majority of Hindus, Buddhists and Sikhs tend to cremate. Though many branches of Judaism do not cremate, Reform Jews often do.

A 1999 study by an industry group, the Funeral and Memorial Information Council, found that cremation is chosen more often by people with better education and higher incomes.

But the No. 1 reason cited for choosing cremation in a national survey was cost. On average, cremation is one-third the cost of burial (not including the burial plot or upkeep), ranging from about $500 to $1,500, according to the Cremation Association of North America.

People power

Probably no single organization is more responsible for Washington's high rate of cremation than the Seattle-based People's Memorial Association, the largest memorial society in the United States at 100,000-plus members.

Started in 1939 by the Rev. Fred Shorter, a pro-cremation crusader, the non-profit group was the first memorial society in the country. Its mission is to provide an inexpensive and dignified way of dealing with the body. Initially, the PMA was staunchly opposed by some funeral homes. Some people called the group a nest of communists.

The PMA offers four different plans, including burial and funeral services. But about 80 percent opt for direct cremation, without embalming or viewing, said Carolyn Hayek, a former district court judge who is the PMA executive director.

Members pay a one-time fee of $15 and fill out forms describing their preferences and authorizing disposition of their body. Those go on file with four funeral homes that provide services at a guaranteed price. When a member dies, a relative calls the main contractor, Bleitz Funeral Home, to have someone pick up the body and meet with the family.

The PMA's price for direct cremation is $570, the lowest retail price in the area. Direct cremation can cost as much as $2,000 in this region, according to a PMA survey of 36 funeral homes and crematories in 2000. The average cost among those surveyed was $1,080.

Most PMA members sign up in their 40s, 50s or beyond, often after dealing with the death of a loved one.

Jane Pickering and her husband, Bob, are exceptions. Now in their 60s, they became members in their 20s, after her parents joined. When her father died in 1993 and her mother in 1998, Jane Pickering was impressed with the PMA's services.

"They handled everything with thought and care. It was just such a relief," said Pickering, who was glad there was no effort to "upsell" extras, like a fancy urn or a funeral chapel service.

The family scattered the cremains of both parents in a river by the family's Hood Canal getaway home. "It was very meaningful to all of us," Pickering said.

Though her father was raised Catholic, Pickering said he was a rebel who rejected the church's earlier stance against cremation. He and his wife talked openly, even joked about it, with their children.

"Our family believes in it because we don't like taking space in cemeteries," said Pickering, who recommends the PMA to friends. "And we believe it's cleaner."

Pickering also would like to be scattered on the family's Hood Canal property, though her husband has a different idea. "Bob wants to be put in his compost pile. Really and truly," Pickering said, laughing. "I'm not sure the kids would go along with that one."

Saving space

Before 1977, a cemetery was the only legal place to put cremains in Washington state. Now, it's OK to scatter or bury them in your yard (though you are supposed to disclose this if you sell your home). It's also legal to scatter them in the Sound and most bodies of water, and, with permission, in national parks and on some state lands.

Some people bury cremains in a cemetery plot. It takes about four square feet of land for up to two sets of cremated remains, compared with an average of 44 square feet to bury up to two people in one plot.

"Even though there are no new cemeteries and we're burying more people, it's taking less and less space," said Dave Daly, president of Evergreen-Washelli Funeral Home and Cemetery in North Seattle.

When Daly started at the business in 1964, the cemetery had an estimated 30 years of space left. Now, several years past that point, he projects that the cemetery has enough room for the next 30 to 60 years, because of the rise of cremation.

Many cemeteries also feature indoor and outdoor columbariums in which to place urns, or, a more recent development, outdoor "urn gardens."

Evergreen-Washelli's 10,000-square-foot indoor columbarium houses an estimated 18,000 to 20,000 cremated remains and has space for about 30 more years.

The smallest niche, high on the 11-foot walls, costs $200. A large glass case with enough room for eight cremains, costs $6,000.

Last year Evergreen handled 980 cremations, or an average of more than two per day, Daly said. About half of the remains are buried or placed on the site and half go home with the family.

Water scatterings are one of the more popular ways of dispersing cremains.

In March, Jane and Ron Vukonich of Edmonds started a company called Ashes on Puget Sound, to scatter cremains from their 32-foot powerboat "Splashdance." The families rarely come along, so the Vukoniches send them digital photos and a certificate with the latitude and longitude of the scattering.

"The first one we did was the most cathartic experience I've ever had," said Jane Vukonich, a tribal liaison with the Federal Emergency Management Agency. "The cremated remains just lay on the water glistening, and they take on a form almost all their own. Each one is totally different."

The Washington State Ferry System gets 75 to 80 requests a year for scatterings, mostly on its Edmonds-Kingston run. If the weather is good and the boat is on time, the captain stops the ferry for a minute or so while the family gathers at the rear to scatter the remains.

Requests have been up slightly in the past few years, said spokeswoman Susan Harris. The service is free, except for the ferry passage, but that may have to change if requests keep rising.

Into the fire

The Bible may say "ashes to ashes, dust to dust," but many professionals object to the term "ashes." Cremated remains or, cremains, are ground-up bone fragments.

Cremation is the burning of the body, turning it into a grayish, sandlike powder in the course of a few hours.

In Washington, the same department that licenses you to drive also licenses and regulates the 70 crematories operating in the state.

Since the Department of Licensing began overseeing crematories in 1985, nine complaints have been investigated, resulting in four fines.

A funeral home in Ephrata was fined $2,000 in 1987 for mishandling bodies prior to cremation. In 1996, a Spokane funeral home paid a $4,000 fine for cremating the wrong body. In 2000, a Seattle funeral director failed to return the remains to the decedent's son, resulting in a $1,000 fine. That same year, Bleitz Funeral Home in Seattle and a funeral director at the company were each fined $1,000 for returning the cremated remains to the wrong parent of the deceased.

Besides fines, the state can direct other remedies, such as ordering more training for a funeral home or crematory employee, refunding a fee or suspending or revoking an operating license.

State workers make unannounced inspections of crematories annually to help prevent atrocities like the one earlier this year in Georgia, where it was discovered that a businessman dumped 339 bodies on his property instead of cremating them.

One way families can be sure they're receiving a loved one's remains is to watch the cremation. That's an experience most crematories offer, though few people attend.

One notable exception is some East Indian families, who walk the casket to the crematory on family members' shoulders and stop to pray seven times. The family places paraffin candles on the container as it goes into the chamber, then the eldest son presses the start button.

During the cremation process, the body is never left unattended. It is checked for pacemakers, jewelry and other personal property before being wrapped in plastic and placed in a reinforced cardboard box called a cremation container. Some families buy a simple casket instead.

At least two documents travel with the body during preparations -- the cremation authorization, which must be signed by a family member, and a burial transit permit, which is filed with the county health department after cremation.

A metal tag, usually connected to an ankle or wrist, goes into the crematory with the body and later is twisted around the plastic bag that holds the cremains. Only one body is burned at a time and the paperwork follows the body, clipped to the outside of the burning chamber (called a retort) while it is fired.

The box is placed into the retort, which runs on natural gas and heats to between 1,600 and 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit. A door closes with the push of a button, quieting the roar of the orange flames, which sound like a muted jet engine.

At first, a small puff of white smoke escapes, but soon it burns clear through an unfiltered stack as a mixture of water vapor and carbon dioxide. Since a body is mostly liquid, the hot fire desiccates the remains until only bone fragments are left. That takes about 45 minutes to an hour.

The retort is then cooled and a long-handled broom is used to sweep the chalky gray remains into a box. The bone fragments, of various shapes and sizes, cool for up to two hours before they are put into a processor, where they are pulverized for about a minute.

Then the powder, which by state law must not have bone fragments exceeding five millimeters (or be recognizable as human remains), is poured into a simple plastic box lined with a plastic bag, unless a family has purchased or sent an urn. The cremated remains weigh anywhere from 3 to 9 pounds.

Getting what you want

If you want to be cremated, experts say to write it down, sign it and have a witness sign too. Then, provide copies to your relatives and make a point of talking with them about your wishes.

If you haven't documented your wishes, your spouse makes the decision. If there's no spouse, a person's children must all be contacted and agree on what is to be done with the body -- and it can be difficult to achieve consensus. If there is no spouse or children, next in line are a person's parents, then siblings, or lastly, a representative of the deceased with signed authorization.

"I think people are more relieved when it's talked about," said Leone Lewis, a licensed funeral director who's worked for the Neptune Society and other cremation companies. "Because even if people don't agree (on the choice), they know they're following their parents' wishes."

Tom Simonson, president of the Cremation Association of North America, says the most common concern about cremation is that a family won't receive the right remains. "Ask about the procedure, so you have certainty," Simonson says. "If a firm doesn't have written procedures or openness, it's probably not a good choice."

Evergreen-Washelli's Web site provides a photo tour of the cremation process. They describe it in detail, and they invite people to visit the crematorium. "I'm absolutely convinced that an informed customer is going to be a happy one," said Daly, Evergreen-Washelli president.

Feedback from visitors to the site has been good. One man wrote that he wanted a live Webcast of his cremation, so friends could see him slim down from a 275-pound frame to eight pounds of cremains.

Many funeral homes and cremation groups offer pre-payment, which can make death arrangements easier for family and friends. But make sure you understand exactly what you're purchasing and what options you have if you change your mind later. As always, give copies to close relatives.

And compare prices, says Marie Sullivan, spokeswoman for the Department of Licensing, which does not regulate fees. "It really pays for people to shop around," she said. "This is a really consumer-oriented business."

Under Washington law, funeral homes are required to give you their general price list on the phone or in writing. But, be warned: price lists can be lengthy and confusing.

If you opt for direct cremation, that doesn't mean there's no need or desire for a funeral or memorial service.

Whether you create a service on your own or with the help of a funeral home, professionals say it's an important part of grieving and accepting that the loved one is gone.

"We must, as human beings, have a ritual and a little more. We need that memorializing," Lewis said.

WHAT NEXT?

Survivors are devising more creative things to do with the ashes of loved ones

CREMATION FACTS

• Cremation probably started sometime in the early Stone Age, around 3,000 B.C. in parts of Europe and the Near East.

• The word cremation comes from the Latin word "cremo," to burn.

• In 2000, just over 26 percent of the dead were cremated in the United States, which has more than 1,700 crematories, according to the Cremation Association of North America.

• The state with the lowest rate in 2000 was Alabama, at 4.8 percent. The state with the highest rate was Hawaii, at 59.9 percent in 2000.

• In Washington, in 2001, of 44,563 dead, 16,279 (36.5 percent) were buried and 26,527 (59.5 percent) were cremated, according to the state's Department of Health.

• In Washington, direct cremation -- immediate cremation without viewing or embalming -- costs anywhere from $570 to $2,000.

• Countries with high cremation rates include Japan (98 percent); Czech Republic (76 percent); United Kingdom (72 percent); and Switzerland (68 percent).

  MORE INFORMATION

• Cremation Association of North America -- www.cremationassociation.org, 312-644-6610

• Washington State Funeral Directors Association -- www.wsfda.org, 253-588-7111

• Washington State Department of Licensing, which oversees funeral homes, cemeteries and crematories -- www.dol.wa.gov, 360-664-1555

• People's Memorial Association -- www.peoplesmemorial.org, 206-325-0489

• Evergreen-Washelli Funeral Home and Cemetery -- www.evergreen-washelli.com or 206-362-5200, 800-755-1350

• Federal Trade Commission, which has a consumer guide on funerals -- www.ftc.gov

• LifeGem -- www.lifegem.com; 866-543-3436

• Washington State Ferry System -- Contact Susan Harris, 206-515-3460

P-I reporter Kristin Dizon can be reached at 206-448-8118 or kristindizon@seattlepi.com.