What to do if you do not want a funeral

[Patrick]

I would rather they keep the money and do something useful with it. I don't have a big ego and wouldn't care if you leave me in a ditch like roadkill when I'm gone. (I would be impressed if you know what song that last part is from!!)

Personally, I like Joe Diffie's Prop Me Up Beside the Jukebox:


Well I ain't afraid of dyin', it's the thought of being dead
I wanna go on being me once my eulogy's been read
Don't spread my ashes out to sea, don't lay me down to rest
You can put my mind at ease if you fulfill my last request

Prop me up beside the jukebox if I die
Lord, I wanna go to heaven but I don't wanna go tonight
Fill my boots up with sand, put a stiff drink in my hand
Prop me up beside the jukebox if I die

Just let my headstone be a neon sign
Let it burn in mem'ry of all of my good times
Fix me up with a manequin, just remember I like blondes
I'll be the life of the party even when I'm dead and gone

Prop me up beside the jukebox if I die
Lord, I wanna go to heaven but I don't wanna go tonight
Fill my boots up with sand, put a stiff drink in my hand
Prop me up beside the jukebox if I die

Just make your next selection and while your still in line
You can pay you last respects one quarter at a time

Prop me up beside the jukebox if I die
Lord, I wanna go to heaven but I don't wanna go tonight
Fill my boots up with sand, put a stiff drink in my hand
Prop me up beside the jukebox if I die

Oh, prop me up beside the jukebox if I die

 

[Milton]

The best thing to do is to discuss the issue with your next of kin, and make your views known. Presumably they will respect those views, although there is no guarantee.

 

[HFWR]

Please don't bury me
Down in the cold, cold ground
No, I'd rather have 'em cut me up
And pass me all around

Throw my brain in a hurricane
The blind can have my eyes
And the deaf can take both of my ears
If they don't mind the size

John Prine

 

[rs0460a]

jewish caskets have no metal so that the entire structure deteriorates with the body.

Actually, this is quite common in Europe (regardless of the religion).

Some places you "rent" a plot (20+ years) until everything is "recycled" ...

We were in Nuremburg, Germany last year and visited a place where the "stones" were actually "grave caps", many 100+ old. Below the "cap", there were up to five "generations" that were placed on top of each other. As one died (and there was room) they were added to the top. The "stone" was actually hollow and covered the burial mound (dirt) so it would just fill in the space as the "remains recycled".

As a side-note, we just returned from the Netherlands this spring and visited a cemetery where space was limited. The "graves" were standing up (takes up less space).

As for me, make an "ash" out of me and place me by a tree (that's an option that becoming available, in my area). I would rather "feed the tree" in order for it to produce oxygen that other living things can breathe.

- Ron

 

[Eyerishgold]

Just make sure they know you're serious. My dad passed a few years ago and he absolutely didn't want a funeral and told this to my brothers and I number of times. Our extended family pushed for a funeral but we explained to them in no uncertain terms that his wish was for no funeral.

 

[Nords]

For those of you contemplating a trip to Waikiki:

A decade ago ago the city decided to replenish the sand by dredging a few hundred yards offshore and pumping it all back onto Kuhio Beach.

At least, that was the plan until someone pointed out that Duke Kahanamoku and a gazillion other 20th-century Hawaiians & watermen had their ashes scattered right where the contractors were planning to dredge.

It was a persistent undercurrent to all of the other legal dramas surrounding the dredging, but it was eventually resolved in favor of putting Duke back on the beach so that he could see people having a good time.

starbulletin.com | News | /2006/12/02/

 

[Patrick]

For those of you contemplating a trip to Waikiki:

A decade ago ago the city decided to replenish the sand by dredging a few hundred yards offshore and pumping it all back onto Kuhio Beach.

At least, that was the plan until someone pointed out that Duke Kahanamoku and a gazillion other 20th-century Hawaiians & watermen had their ashes scattered right where the contractors were planning to dredge.

It was a persistent undercurrent to all of the other legal dramas surrounding the dredging, but it was eventually resolved in favor of putting Duke back on the beach so that he could see people having a good time.

starbulletin.com | News | /2006/12/02/

Oh, what the heck, it's only a little carbon and calcium, right?