Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Your Own Funeral?

Posts in another place here got me wondering.

It seems as if death is as personal as an individual's life is.

How would you like your funeral to be?

Cremation? Pine Box? Fancy casket with all the trimmin's?


Most of us don't think about it much. But, when I was having heart issues, I really did delve into that subject.

I want a simple pine box and a cowboy funeral.



What do you guys want?

Will your family honor your wishes?

Cremation, Simple.

Cremation

This may sound strange, but I believe people should take on this responsibility themselves, and not ignore it and leave it to family members. I've been exposed to a fair amount of family members passing, and about the only thing done in advance was buying a burial plot. The rest was left on others to deal with. And, I thing funeral homes take a lot of advantage at the time of a death, you only have so much time.

After my Dad passed, my Mom went back to the funeral home, and negotiated exactly what she wanted and paid for it. No issues.

My wife and I have plots and have the headstone in place. Dates will have to be cut in, but we have what we want.

cremation. i use to want a traditional solid redoak casket, w/woodhandles & wooden pegs to hold it together. something about from dust thou art and to dust thou shall return, or something like that.

use to imagine lying there in the casket and looking back on a trajectory to where i am now. what kind of a view might that be?

interesting stuff. no wood casket for me now, don't think i could afford it.

Sell your body to the local med school.

Jim

My Mom did the same thing. I will be buried in the same Cemetery as My Mom and Dad, My Grandfather, and Grandmother, and 2 of my Great Grandfathers and Grandmothers on my Dad's side. I have the spots picked and my Wife has agreed that we should go ahead and put up a stone. I figured that She would balk at the suggestion, but did not. Just need to get that done. Nothing fancy in the way of a box or stone. miles

I intend laughter, mirth, and uncontrollable belly laughs when I go. There might even be strippers.
I have every intent to automate my coffin. It should be ......interesting. roflmao.
I will be wearing a three piece suit of camo, lined with hunters orange, and a Jester's cap. (The last laugh is reserved for Death)

Cremation. No funeral, no need to waste time on me, I am not the first person to die and won't be the last.

Don't give 2 schitts what are done with my ashes.

Wife and I both want, upon death to be immediately cremated and put in a plain urn. Once the second dies the kids are to plant us in the family plot in Will County, IL. Barnett Cemetery in Homer Twp.

Cremation and for my kids to spread my ashes from the window of the shooting house we built together in 2009. I would like for this to be done during a decent snow in deer season. My favorite place to sit and watch the world go by.
I have no use for a viewing and the rest of the funeral home crap. I hate them and most of the people I know do as well. I would rather be cremated as cheaply as possible and family/friends to have some kind of get together/party celebrating my life. I want a party. Still thinking on exactly how that should play out. My family does know this much of my plan should something happen to me.

I am with 10gaugemag, except, my boy knows where to scatter my ash's. Rio7

Cremation. Daughter and son have specific directions to spread my ashes at two locations: my #1 deer stand of all time and the ranch I elk hunt on. I don't have the farm any more where my #1 stand is so he'll just have to figure something out.

Lastly, I want him to take a small amount of my ashes and load me in a round to be taken deer hunting one more time, with my favorite rifle. Instructions are to wait on a nice buck, no matter how long it takes. No does. And if he misses, I told him I'll haunt his butt forever!

My ashes will be put in the lake close by. I have left the money for everybody to have a big party and tell good lies about me. I hope they all have a great time."I Come To Dance" will be played.

Cremation. I'm claustrophobic and the thought of being buried in a casket totally freaks me out.

Cremation

Whatever is cheapest.

Cheapest thing they can find. I had a lot of fun in this body, but it's wore out...I think the business of death is far too expensive.

I have asked that I be used for obscene practical jokes by first year med students.

Whatever is left can be mulched into large recognizeable chips and used for erosion control.

I've told my family that simple and inexpensive is fine with me, but to do whatever gives them the most comfort. I'll be gone, and I won't care. Funerals are for the living, not for the dead.

Had this discussion with my mother.... Who is typically British in all ways BTW

Do you want to be buried? OOOh NO! I couldn't stand to be put in the cold, damp ground, could I!?!?!

OK! You want to be cremated? The thought of being burned up is horrible!!!!

Alright! ??? What's left?? How about burial at sea??

Well.... I can't swim, can I???


WE have agreed she will be cremated.

As for me and the missus...... we will be cremated, the girls can take whats left and throw it off a cruise ship in AK, we'll pay for the trip.


have informed ALL, that is all no exceptions. If you put me in charge of your final affairs there will be NO, repeat NO open casket, viewing, whatever..... you want one....pick someone else.


A side story:

I was a Flight School manager at the local FBO for a while, charter pilot, Flight instructor, etc.

Got a call from a guy that wanted to fly about 30 miles off shore, over the Gulf, and then come back.

OK! come on down.

Couple hours later a priest shows up???? Carrying a box?

So we load up in the Skyhawk and off we go.

Once we pass the edge of the Sawgrass, about a mile past dry land, he says this is far enough!?!?!

So I open his window and just as I begin to explain----- '...I'll open my side add a little right rudder, get a some flow through ventilation, then you can pour...'

All I got out was '...I'll open.............' and then there is this dust storm of a tornado inside, and it sounds like we're flying through a hail storm as 'stuff' blows in, rattles around and some hits the tail.......

he had the bits and pieces of 'several'..... and not sure about which, what and who....but a lot ended up in the shop-vac.....

Plan well, and leave specifics.....





Last year scattered my BIL - around a pine tree in the Game Preserve, it's what he wanted...

Cremation, with ashes mixed in a bucket with concrete with a brass plate that has "Mr. T" (that is what wife calls me) and dropped on one of cones out of Port Canaveral. Caught a lot of fish out there.

Not so much with disposing with the body, but I'd like all to celebrate a life lived well.

I'm anticipating after the incident, there won't be enough left to bury!

Cremation, and my wife and kids know where I would prefer the ashes spread. But I also told them to do whatever makes them happy, as I won't be there anyway and won't be around to have any regrets.

Same, Wifey said I'm not ever leaving this farm, She's gonna put me in a can up on the fireplace mantel.

Prop me up against a tree in the deep woods let the critter take care of me

As a retired funeral director, I heard from virtually every family simple and inexpensive, and I can identify with their feelings. No matter visitation or not, cremation or burial, your first question SHOULD be: Is this funeral home privately owned?

There's a huge movement within the funeral industry where formerly "mom and pop shops" are bought up by large corporations. The building may be the same, some of the employees may be the same, but I'll tell you one thing, the level of service and the prices will NOT be the same!

As was pointed out earlier, use a day or two to research places you might be interested in handling your services, and comparing prices. Most corporate funeral homes attempt to steer families into a "package" which might include many items that you simply do not need. Although it might be nice that a fancy urn is included in the package, a identical urn can most likely be purchased online for less than half of what the package charges. Be careful, keep your eyes open.

For immediate cremation, many areas have businesses that cater to that wish and nothing else. The savings can be substantial, with only a store front and less employees as overhead.

Ask for price lists, they're federally mandated to be offered the customer.

And, being a funeral director, I opt for immediate cremation as well. Simply my choice, and nothing wrong with that.

Inexpensive casket. Open if there is enough left in a presentable form. Simple evangelistic service at the church. Already have two of the songs picked out. Buried in the family cemetery on the back of the farm.

As noted above, funerals are for the living. Hopefully a celebration of a life well lived (I'm trying to do my part ). Topped off by one of my favorite activities ... a potluck dinner back at the church where hopefully many stories and tales will be told and enjoyed by children, grand children, and great grand children...

cremation, I hope my wife (and hopefully grown kids) and a couple of closest friends take me up some remote mountain in the southern ADK's drink a beer or two and tell some stories and set me free.

The specifics of what I and my wife want are detailed in our trust so the boy's will know precisely what to do. In brief, cremation for both.

Big business.

Seen that happen to most of the family owned funeral homes.

Cremation, my ashes scattered with those of Ingwedog on our favorite creek. Money set aside for my friends to have a wake/party.

One thing about it, if history is a lesson, I'll be late for it!

Cremation, and party for the lucky survivors. Open bar, plenty of great food, good music, and hopefully someone will remember some good stories. If not, I hope someone will be a good liar......

Cardboard casket inexpensive enough?

http://eeternity.com/

The Funeral Rule (enforced by the FTC)

*You have the right to buy separate goods and services, and you do not have to accept a package that may include items you do not want.

*The funeral provider cannot refuse to handle a casket or urn you bought online, at a local casket store, or somewhere else — or charge you a fee to do it. The funeral home cannot require you to be there when the casket or urn is delivered to them.

*For burial, please check local cemeteries, as they are not regulated by the FTC; some cemeteries may be against families' burying their loved ones in eco-friendly caskets.

If I can't just be lost and forgotten out in the wilderness somewhere, then one of these on the back of a lobster boat.

[video:youtube]_bA6RmsV6R0[/video]

Inexpensive as possible, and a celebration of eternal life.

I wouldn't mind one of those earth friendly burials where they just stick you in the ground naked and let nature clean you up. After what I have done to nightcrawlers it's only fair that they get a shot at me. And no big sad tearfest either. Have someone with broasted pork chops cater it, have a fun time.

My family has a block of plots in a small rural cemetery outside of Boise, ID. The cemetery is on land homesteaded by my great grandfather who sold a few acres to the county for that purpose. They will allow up two 4 urns on each plot so in recent years everyone buried there has been cremated to save space. My 1st wife died in '06 and is buried there. Earlier that year my father died and is also there.

My wife kept up a sense of humor about it. During Dad's burial, we were looking at the plot where we knew she would be be buried in the near future. She said to me "You're young enough that you'll likely remarry. There's plenty of room in there for 3 of us."

Speaking of expenses... When she died, cremations cost $1300. You can't find much of a pine box for that. Then, if you don't get a steel casket, you have to buy a vault. One or the other is required by most cemeteries. It has nothing to do with preserving the body. It's because they don't want the ground sinking as the casket deteriorates.

I'm going to skip it entirely.

She sounds like a keeper......

If only more of them had that attitude about the bedroom.

If I die before the the wife, she will throw me in the back pond and log onto the 'Fire 3 times a week and say 'Blow me', so as to not raise any suspicions.

That way she will still collect my pension.



Cremation for me, no coffin, no service, no nothing. Cheapest way possible.

Burial.
Pine box, no embalming (legal in CO), no big to-do about it.
I would prefer to biologically regenerate.
From a practical standpoint it is unlikely I will have any survivors and I distrust any local providers to do that correctly.


I like this -

I'm holding out for the rapture. But if I go too soon, and after they harvest all my useable organs, I'd like a simple box under a headstone that bares my name, my wife's name, a Chi Rho Cross, and the word "Halleluha!"

Give your body to the local medical school.

Jim

Cremation, then a good old fashioned Irish wake for my few friends and relatives.

And bury my ashes with those of my Dogs, out back of the house.

I'll drink to that!

Virgil B.

Toss me in a dumpster.I won`t care.

Cremation and buried 4 rows in front of High Brass in the WV veteran cemetery. I want someone to say, "Dave said, ashes to ashes and dust to dust. Just bury my azz and don't make a fuss"!

It's a weird thing knowing you will be dead FOREVER. Forever is one hell of a long time.

I like the idea of people mourning my loss for eternity so I would probably do something like this guy.








Clark

This country has some pretty bizarre funeral customs. The ghouls have turned it into a big business to prey on people when they are vulnerable.

Some really strange laws about spreading cremains too so it is best to keep your plans for loved ones to yourself as much as possible. Just tell the leeches you are going to put them on the mantle when they ask.

Jerry

What ever family wants, but not expensive. Military honors and Patriot Guard flag line. Burial in state military cemetery.

My Grandfather was 50 years a Mason, and we had a Masonic graveside ceremony as well.

And don't tell them you're going to snort it and rub it on your gums all night unless you know they have a good sense of humor.




Clark

That is a fact.

I was holding my dads hand a few minutes after he died and I remember the distinct impression that he was there and then he left all of a sudden. I let go of his hand and there was just a dead body left, it wasn't my dad at all.

They say we aren't a body with a spirit, we're a spirit with a body. After the spirit leaves, it doesn't matter what's done with the body, it's as inanimate as a 2x4.

I am an organ donor, and I had forgotten about the aspect.
It take some time to take a body apart, I'm told.

Cremation and dumped into an elk wallow. Perfect.

The soul supposedly weighs 21 grams.

Been proven that there is indeed a loss of weight at the exact time of death for a long time.

What everyone can't say is where the 21 grams goes.

IN my travels, I don't want to think that I will be planted in some spot in the ground somewhere....

an old G/F back in MN showed me where she will be buried next to her husband, with her name already on the stone, done when he passed of cancer a few years ago...

creeped me out...

So I guess it cremation.... and then my ashes scattered to the 4 winds...

if it was reality, the way I would really like to pass is the way Yoda did in Star Wars.... just sorta fade away on the spot...

I thought that was clean and quick...

God, BEAM ME UP!

I'll be buried at Arlington.

my wife's grandfather was something like a 33rd degree mason. he was buried with the scottish rite ritual for burial.

i'm not so certain about a soul having weight/density. but, maybe it does.

Yes I will be attending my funeral.

Actually, it's legal in most states for most causes of death other than a few dangerous diseases. The practice of embalming on a regular basis came with modern transportation. They used to bury them within a couple of days. Then they started holding the bodies for a week or more until relatives could get there for the funerals. It had nothing to do with preserving the body.
Another part of it was to be able ship the bodies long distances to be buried near other family members. They formerly buried them where they died.
Up through WWI, we buried our soldiers in foreign fields. Now we bring them home, even if it takes 75 years to find them.

Earlier I mentioned that many cemeteries require either a steel casket or a concrete vault. It's not required by law anywhere that I know of, but the cemeteries require it so the ground won't sink as the casket disintegrates. They don't want low spots by every headstone.

For those who say no funeral - you're cheating your family out of closure. Funerals are for the living, not the dead. It's a formal breaking of a family bond that's part of all of us and allowing the family to move on. I had a female cousin die a few years ago. She was an odd bird. She wanted to be cremated, her ashes mixed with those of a favorite dog that she'd had cremated, their ashes scattered along the Snake River in so. Idaho and no service of any kind. Her only remaining relative on that side is her older brother. He did what she wanted but he's often regretted it. It's been about 5 years now and he's unhappy that she just ceased to exist. There was never any kind of closure and he's been in pain about it ever since. Requesting that there not be some kind of service is painful for your family. DO NOT do it.

We buried dad 4 years ago. My brother and I just pre-paid for mom's funeral a couple of weeks ago. She recently had to be placed in a nursing home. Medicare allows you to pre-pay for a funeral, but if she runs out of money before dying will only allow about $2K for a funeral.

We paid a little over $10K and at best could have only saved about $2K. We literally went as cheap as practical. We could have saved $1000 not embalming and the only casket cheaper would have saved $1000. Mom and dad bought the plots and stone years ago, that would be several thousand more. We'll still have to pay the cemetery to dig the grave and cover it. That could be as much as $1000 if the funeral is on a weekend.

On top of that the local paper charges $1.50 per word for a death announcement and obit. That can easily run into $500-$1000 for some people.

I asked about cremation and it isn't as cheap as I thought. Realistically to be cremated, and have a service would be about $5K. Just to have the funeral home pick up the body, transport it to a crematory and return the ashes to the family was $2400 with no other services. Dying ain't cheap.

My personal plans are somewhat imprecise, but I'd leaning toward whoever dies 1st being cremated, then the ashes of the last to die be mixed in the same urn. I'd prefer my kids use the money we'd have spent on the funeral to pay for a road trip and scatter parts of us in many of the places we've visited over the years.

Cremation and stuffed into a wall at Tahoma National Cemetery.

I hope to die with a fatally wounded grizzly bear laying on top of me.

You might not die.

Didn't you see the movie "The Revenant"

Strapped to a hydrogen bomb and set off over New York City one dark evening.

The whole 'closure' thing is a personal matter....

Some say I have to see them... !?!?!?

I have lots of family that I was close to, that I never saw.... after the fact. They're gone, and I know where the body is...... we are all different...

And then there is the autopsy thing........ it amazes me the number that just have to know the exact reason why????

They're gone, does the why matter that much? Again it is a very personal thing... some just have to have it.

My dad, cheap as they come about some things, wants to be given for medical research, because what they don't use is cremated and sent back at a very cheap price...... $350 or some such.

My brother is vehemently opposed to such, because his two sons went to medical school and they/he knows what they do to the 'research/medical' cadavers.......

Cremation,a Catholic Cowboy Mass (hat's on) horseback the ashes into Grizzly Basin, have a whisky ( on me) and dump them of the cliff. Cheers.

Yes, with all my concubines, wife, horses and cattle aboard.

Actually, it is an empty vessel, treat it as such.

A trip through the incinerator and toss the ashes in the landfill.

Now, my Dad, on the other hand, has a big funeral planned with his impressive monument already in place. He imagines that someone at some future date will be impressed, I suppose.

Pine box. Up on the hill behind the house.

My wife and I each have it stated in our Wills that we are to be cremated with no funeral services.

K.I.S.S

<><> http://www.cjboots.com/images/portfolio/full/pinebox_detail1.jpg <><>

My father was $540 to be cremated and his ashes given to me in a plastic bag inside a small cardboard box, but that was 1987.

My FIL, 2014, cost $20k, but that was 2 visitations, church, bagpipes and a catered wake/drinks.

My wife will be late to mine....

Some states have laws (mine included) that state if the death isn't of natural causes, an autopsy will be ordered.

Many families do it to determine cause of death when malpractice is suspected.

It'll be traditional for our area but within reasonable costs -- no fancy box; nobody will remember nor will I care. I will be in heaven.

We generally have a family visitation evening for those who wish to greet the family and give condolences but who can't make the church funeral the next day.

At the funeral, the gospel message will be shared.

I'm not positive, but I think I've got a hole down in western Kentucky.

I guess it's about time to look into that.

It costs a fortune to get buried here in Lexington.

My uncle died alone at home (in August, with no air conditioning) and wasn't found until he was a puddle of goo. They burned what was left.

not to wax too morbid, but malpractice of one kind, type, sort or another is always a possibility, right? i mean, somebody somewhere did something wrong, or they wouldn't be dead, would they? the ambulance chasers are always lookin' for a cheap buck.

but, to shift to a more chirpy discussion, i worked w/a dude that his wife had the right attitude about death. when she passed, she asked her husband to roll her body in the casket into their carport. put all the clothes in her closet on her. then let the party begin. fun, celebration, & remembrance. before the party was complete everyone had a chance to line up and take one article of clothing from her body...top, bottom, socks, shoes, rings, bracelets, watches (especially the watches), etc. etc. hair pins, bows, glasses...you name it and it's yours. once everyone had a turn, and maybe some second chances at a double take, there'd not be a stich of anything left on her. at that point close the casket, party over...as everyone had something to remember her by. not a bad concept, really. and fun was had by all.

wood chipper

Make sure you write something down if you really want it.
Grandma died 2 months ago and refused to address it. Owed about $350K on her death and didn't have anything other than a beat up old car to liquidate for funeral expenses. So, dad wanted a cremation, his siblings didn't have their own pots to piss in either, so they were in no position to argue.... until they did anyway.
Aunt first asked for her own urn for grandma (what she was going to do with it, as she was about to be homeless, I don't know). She also demanded her car for something to live in.
Funeral home had signatures from three of the 4 siblings, so was going to do the cremation until aunt blew up and pitched a fit. They then refused to cremate until she signed on. And she never did.
Went from having about enough to sell her car to pay for cremation to my dad shelling out $7K for a 3rd time on a parent and step parent. She was a veteran widow, plot was taken care of. Bare bones on about everything.
Just have enough to take care of your final wishes and write it down. I'm quite certain he won't be stepping up to pay for funerals on any of the other relatives. Good riddance to them. It was the last straw I needed to cut ties with those pieces schit anyway.

Sounds like you are way better off.

You can pick your friends...

That is interesting. I have been informed (by those I had considered informed on the subject) that the guy writing the check makes the decisions.

You heard of the two deer hunters, up in a tree stand, and as a funeral passed on a nearby road?
One hunter doffed his hat, bowed his head, gave a short prayer, and then resumed hunting. His partner mentioned "wow, that was truly respectful, I'm impressed."
The respectful hunter says "well, we were married more than 30 years....."

change my choice to "north korean artillery" much sexier than a wood chipper.

I have directed that my family take a vacation and scatter a few of my ashes on the mountain where we elk hunted. Scatter more on the old hill pasture I grew up hunting quail. Throw the rest in the ditch somewhere, who wants to spend eternity stacked up among a bunch of boring dead people.