Four decades ago, less than 5 percent of American were cremated when they died. Now that figure stands at nearly half. This is how cremation actually works, and what happens to a culture when its attitude about how to memorialize the dead undergoes a rev
“I had this pride that I could do this.” The pandemic, which has killed 690,000 Americans and counting, has magnified the importance of swift, respectful disposition of the dead—and the untenable cost of doing business in the current system. In 2019, the average funeral cost $9,135, ...
However, I remember Barbara Kemmis, the spokesperson for theCremation Association of North America, telling me that while operators do their best to remove recoverable remains, it’s possible that minute amounts of one person’s cremated remains could inadvertently wind up in someone else’s. Ano...
Cremations cost less than traditional burials. (Much of the increased cost for a traditional burial is related to the metal casket and vault.) The NFDA noted the national average cost for cremation and a funeral in 2021 was $6,970, compared to $9,420 for a viewing and traditional burial ...