Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

Cremation: Southern Nevadans’ final choice

On rankings of education and health, Nevada often finds itself on the bottom of the list. In growth and economic factors it's often on top.

Now the state finds itself at the top of a list few would have suspected.

Nevada has the highest cremation rate in the nation, Jack Springer, executive director of the Cremation Association of North America, said.

About 70 percent of Nevadans who died in 2002 were cremated according to state health records, with Clark County residents choosing cremation 69 percent of the time.

The national average for cremation rates is 25 percent, Springer said.

Nevada has had one of the highest cremation rates in the nation for the past two decades, Springer said, often second in the nation behind Hawaii. Other Western states such as Oregon, Washington, Arizona, Montana and Alaska also have cremation rates in the mid-50 to low 60 percent range.

Transient city

Local morticians cite the transient nature of Nevada's population, with its high number of retirees and its lack of tradition as the main reasons behind the high cremation rate. Economical and ecological concerns may also be influences.

But for most Nevadans, it comes down to which of dispositions -- cremation or burial -- least offends their personal sensibilities.

"A lot of people have a phobia of being buried in the ground," Velveten Williams, manager of Valley Memorial Cremation and Burials, said. "Some people just want to be cremated and have ashes scattered in the mountains or the desert, in lakes or the ocean."

For longtime Las Vegas resident Anne Rittenhouse McNamee, a spry 82-year-old, cremation easily overruled burial.

"I much prefer the light," said McNamee, part of the pioneer Las Vegas family. "I don't want to be in a casket, I'm very claustrophobic."

McNamee, who has prearranged every detail of the disposition of her "mortal coil" and already has a handmade urn, decided back in the 1940s that she wanted to be cremated, after she read an article in Reader's Digest about cremation entitled "Light."

The story was about a couple who decided on cremation after trying to make burial arrangements for a family member on a rainy day, visiting dreary cemetery after cemetery. At the time, cremation was almost unheard of, McNamee said, but the article described cremation as being consumed by light, as being engulfed by flames like the sun.

"I thought man, that was a good idea," McNamee said. "Who wants to be in the cold, hard ground anyway?

McNamee also liked the ecological practicality of cremation.

"When you think of how terribly many people there are in the world, they are going to run out of space," McNamee said.

Other factors that may have led more Nevadans to choose cremation include the increasing influx of cultures that prefer cremation and the increasing acceptability of cremation by the public and mainstream religious denominations as valid, morticians said.

One factor that is not part of the high cremation rate is the number of indigent dispositions, Sheila Wilde, a Clark County social worker in charge of burials, said.

Unlike many surrounding states, which typically cremate those who cannot afford to pay for funeral services, Nevada automatically buries indigents unless the family authorizes cremation, Wilde said.

Out of the 772 indigent burials processed by Clark County, only 214, or about 27 percent, were cremated, county spokeswoman Stacy Welling said.

The transient nature of residents was the No. 1 reason given by morticians for cremation.

"Most of our cases that I see, most of the relatives are from out of town, and we often ship (the cremated remains) to the family," Chris Hall, manager of Desert Crematory, said.

This is especially true of many of those who retire to Las Vegas, morticians said. Las Vegas also tends to have higher educated and wealthier retirees, two demographics that embrace cremation more often, Springer said.

Lack of tradition

Because most Las Vegans are not natives, there are also few traditions like family cemetery plots that would induce someone to choose burial, morticians said.

"Being that we are such a transient town, people don't have traditions that you might find in the Midwest or the East Coast," Kyle West, manager of Bunkers Mortuary, said.

The cultural influence, particularly of Asian societies, may also be a factor.

"We are a melting pot of cultures from all over the world, and cremation is recognized in some countries as the most viable option," E.G. Ned Phillips, vice president of Palm Mortuaries, said.

In Japan and India, cremation is virtually the only form of burial, Phillips said. Island cultures, particularly native Hawaiians, also prefer cremation because it saves land space.

More and more religions are also giving their approval to cremation, Springer said. Now, only Orthodox Jews and Muslims forbid cremation, although Southern Baptists and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints discourage it, Springer said.

Religious and cultural influences aside, economics may be the deciding factor for many, morticians said.

A simple cremation without funeral or memorial services runs a few hundred dollars compared with the few thousand dollars of a burial, morticians said.

"Cemetery property is so high now, and everybody can't afford $3,000 for a grave," Williams said.

Hall, of Desert Crematory, agreed.

"The price difference of cremation to burial can be extreme," Hall said. "With the casket and the cost of the gravesite, the prices can be way up there."

Bodies are cremated in a special brick-lined chamber where, through heat and evaporation, the body is reduced to bone fragments. Many crematories then process the fragments to reduce them to fine sand or ashes, morticians said. Depending on the size of the body, there can be three to nine pounds of remains.

Many options

Placement in an urn or scattering of the remains are the most popular forms of disposal, Phillips said, but even then there are a myriad of options available.

The selection of urns alone range from traditional vase-style urns and wooden boxes to garden sundials and display artifacts such as an eagle perching on a rock that hide the remains inside.

The urns can be stored at home or in one of many locations at the cemetery. One of the most popular options is placement in an indoor columbarium, a glass-front cabinet with individual niches, Phillips said. Each niche holds an urn and personal memorabilia -- including photographs or favorite objects of the deceased.

"This is going to be here forever," Phillips said, pointing to one niche at Palm's main columbarium at the Eastern Avenue and Warm Springs location. "Great-great-grandchildren can come here and see pictures of Grandma and see a bottle of her favorite perfume."

McNamee calls her pre-purchased columbarium space "her condo." The spot at the downtown Palm Mortuary on North Main Street has a "view of the swimming pool," McNamee said.

"I'm not going to be put in the ground and I didn't want to be put in a vase and have my family say OK, who gets to have mother on a mantle this year and who is going to have mother next year?" McNamee said.

Those choosing to be placed in urns can also have those remains buried underground, placed in an indoor or outdoor marble-front mausoleum, a personal garden or mausoleum, or entombed in a cenotaph, an underground vault that contains several urns, Phillips said. The names of those placed in the cenotaph are memorialized on the surrounding marble wall.

For those who desire to be scattered, family members can keep a portion of the remains in either a miniature keepsake urn or in a cremation locket.

"The lockets are very non-threatening," Phillips said. "People don't know they are carrying cremains and it provides a level of comfort for the family member that wears it."

Palm Mortuary also offers a special lake and garden at their Eastern Avenue and Warm Springs location for scattering, where the names can be memorialized on a nearby wall.

"This gives a place for people to be able to come," Phillips said. "You can scatter at Dad's favorite fishing hole, but how often can you get there?"

A key is to make sure family members know the preference, Phillips said.

"I think it is really important for us to have the death talk with someone close to you before you die," Phillips said.

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