Summer 2017
FCA of MN Booth at Twin Cities PRIDE Festival
We reported in the Spring 2017 Newsletter that FCA of MN would again have a booth at the Twin Cities Pride Festival June 24 & 25 in Loring Park.
And as we did last year, we held a free drawing for a chance to win one of four cremation urns. "You gotta have a gimmick," goes the show tune from Gypsy, and the urn drawing worked: people from all walks of life put aside whatever jitters they had about stopping at a booth displaying a big green banner with the word Funeral on it, and entered the drawing to win a cremation urn. |
CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR FOUR CREMATION URN WINNERS:
Patrick G., Angela W., Doug H., Wally G.
Along with those who entered our urn drawing, people stopped by our booth to talk to FCA of MN board members and volunteers about after death planning, green burial, what to do with those ashes, cremation and burial pricing, and a host of other "death care" issues that some people find more difficult to talk about than their sex lives.
We understand that: which is why Funeral Consumers Alliance of Minnesota is committed to providing you with a wide range of resources and information about after death options so you can make a plan that's right for you.
We understand that: which is why Funeral Consumers Alliance of Minnesota is committed to providing you with a wide range of resources and information about after death options so you can make a plan that's right for you.
The FCA of MN booth before setting up our tent and banner.
SPEAKING OF CREMATION URNS:
Two Minnesota Urn Sellers to Know About
Funeral Consumers Alliance of Minnesota is pleased to let friends and supporters of FCA of MN know about two Minnesota-based urn sellers. Each generously donated a cremation urn for our urn drawing at the Twin Cities Pride Festival this past June.
Based in St. Paul, OneWorld Memorials primarily operates as an online urn seller. The website allows you to narrow your search by determining the urn's usage, whether it's to bury ashes, keep ashes at home, bury in a green cemetery, scatter ashes, or share ashes among loved ones.
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You can also visit OneWorld Memorials Showroom by appointment. OneWorld is the only exclusive retail urn showroom in the Twin Cities. There you'll find the majority of the urns found on their website.
The photo above is of the stunning biodegradable cremation urn OneWorld Memorials donated for our Pride drawing. The artisan took a classic urn shape and created a work of beauty, simplicity, and dignity.
The photo above is of the stunning biodegradable cremation urn OneWorld Memorials donated for our Pride drawing. The artisan took a classic urn shape and created a work of beauty, simplicity, and dignity.
Ron Martino is the potter and owner of Mississippi Clayworks in historic downtown Hastings where he creates handthrown functional stoneware pottery at affordable prices. Pottery cremation urns are just one of the many products Ron creates.
Besides the full-sized Pottery Cremation Urn, Ron also sells a smaller Remembrance Pottery Urn for families who desire to share cremation remains among family members. Ron's pottery urns are not only among the most beautifully designed hand-thrown pottery urns we've seen, but also the most modestly priced. |
In addition, because the opening to the urn is on the bottom, it's perfectly suited for scattering.
The Mississippi Clayworks retail store is open five days a week. Check the website for days and hours.
The Mississippi Clayworks retail store is open five days a week. Check the website for days and hours.
Mortuary Law
How can an attorney help if you have a complaint with a funeral home, crematory, or cemetery?
To provide FCA of MN with information on how an attorney can help consumers, we asked Jill M. Sauber, an attorney and licensed mortician with industry knowledge and funeral service experience, to outline the issues an attorney may assist with if you have a complaint. |
Jill Sauber leads the Mortuary Law Practice Group at Chestnut Cambronne PA, a Minneapolis law firm.
The document below, Mortuary Law, outlines the range of issues Jill and The Mortuary Law Practice Group may assist with if you have a complaint.
Important To Know
If you have a complaint, you should first make your concern known to the funeral director or other service / merchandise provider.
If your complaint isn't resolved, you may provide the facts in writing to one of the two state of Minnesota agencies that handle death care industry complaints:
The Mortuary Science Section of the Minnesota Department of Health handles complaints against funeral homes, funeral directors, or crematories.
The Minnesota Attorney General's Office handles complaints against cemeteries.
Go to If You Have a Complaint for contact information and instructions on how to file a complaint with Mortuary Science or the Attorney General.
According to Jill Sauber and the Mortuary Law Practice Group:
The document below, Mortuary Law, outlines the range of issues Jill and The Mortuary Law Practice Group may assist with if you have a complaint.
Important To Know
If you have a complaint, you should first make your concern known to the funeral director or other service / merchandise provider.
If your complaint isn't resolved, you may provide the facts in writing to one of the two state of Minnesota agencies that handle death care industry complaints:
The Mortuary Science Section of the Minnesota Department of Health handles complaints against funeral homes, funeral directors, or crematories.
The Minnesota Attorney General's Office handles complaints against cemeteries.
Go to If You Have a Complaint for contact information and instructions on how to file a complaint with Mortuary Science or the Attorney General.
According to Jill Sauber and the Mortuary Law Practice Group:
You do not need to be represented by an attorney
to file these complaints. However, an attorney
may review the facts of your case and determine
how best to proceed to resolve the matter.
Links
Consumer Survey on Funeral Planning | U.S. Cremation Rate Now Over 50%
Consumer Survey on Funeral Planning
Consumer Survey on Funeral Planning
The NFDA 2017 Consumer Awareness and Preferences Study is available only to NFDA members, but a summary is available on the NFDA website.
Among the findings: ▪ a shift away from funeral homes for after death services to another location ▪ only 39.5% of consumers feel a religious component to the funeral or other after death service is important ▪ 53.8% of consumers expressed interest in green options to reduce the environmental impact of after death practices ▪ 40.4% of consumers want to have a memorial service when they choose cremation |
U.S. Cremation Rate Now Over 50%
NFDA's report found that 50.2% of Americans chose cremation in 2016, up from 48.5% in 2015. NFDA projects that the national cremation rate will reach 78.8% of dispositions after death by 2035.
High/Low Cremation Rates
The CANA report found the rate of cremation for 2016 was 50.1%. A summary of CANA's Annual Statistics Report Preview includes a chart (below) illustrating demographic factors that, according to CANA's research, are influencing cremation rates nationally. Since FCA of MN isn't a member of CANA we don't have access to the complete report and so we don't know how the demographic factors were determined. |
CANA designates states with high cremation rates as ROAMING and states with low cremation rates as ROOTED. Here's CANA's broad definition of those terms:
Whether compelled by circumstance or eagerly searching for new opportunity, more and more of the U.S. population has chosen to roam across the country and around the world. Many have loosened their connections to their geographic origins and increased their exposure to new traditions. Conversely, there are significant portions of the population who are rooted to their hometowns and remain deeply connected to the traditions they grew up with.
States With Low and High Cremation Rates
The chart below shows the 10 states with the lowest cremation rates and the 10 states with the highest cremation rates along with percentages.
The chart below shows the 10 states with the lowest cremation rates and the 10 states with the highest cremation rates along with percentages.
Help FCA of MN Survive & Thrive
Last month our website, FCAofMN.org, had the largest number of visitors since we went live just three years ago.
Minnesotans who never knew FCA of MN existed found our website by Googling, among other things: ▪ green burial ▪ alkaline hydrolysis (green cremation) ▪ cremation prices in Minnesota ▪ paying for funerals in Minneapolis ▪ going green after death |
As visits to the FCA of MN website have increased, so have calls and emails.
Here's a sampling of the questions we've responded to in the past several months:
▪ I have my adult daughter's ashes at home. She was my only child. She never married and I'm widowed. What will happen to her ashes after I die?
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▪ After Dad dies in Arizona, we're bringing the ashes back to Minneapolis for a celebration of life. He's not religious. Do you know of a good place to hold a memorial event?
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▪ Why are cremation prices so high where we live (outside of the Twin Cities)? Do we have any choices besides the local funeral home? It charges $3,500 for a basic cremation.
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▪ Should I pre-pay for my funeral, and if I do, what happens if I change my mind?
▪ Does a funeral director have to carry my cremation urn into church for my funeral, or can one of my grandkids do it? ▪ Can I have my ashes buried in my garden? |
▪ Now that we're retired, we travel quite a bit. What if one of us dies while we're away from home?
▪ I want a Catholic burial but I also want a green burial. Why won't Catholic cemeteries allow green burial? ▪ Can I have a tattoo removed and preserved after I die? |
▪ My mother pre-paid her funeral and selected a casket. When she died, the funeral home put her in a different casket without notifying me first. How can I file a complaint?
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▪ Do my kids have a legal obligation to follow my funeral instructions after I die? One of them is opposed to cremation for religious reasons.
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▪ The lowest cost cremation provider on your price survey charges only $750. Do they have a good reputation?
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FCA of MN is your information resource for after-death planning.
Through our website, presentations, price surveys, and the care we take when you call or email us, we strive to bring you a breadth of information about after-death choices you won't find any place else. If this website - and the work we do - has helped you, please consider a donation of $10, $20, $30 (or more) so that our non-profit, all-volunteer organization survives and thrives. |
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I realize that I have learned that we can embrace the paradox of loving and losing. We can be present to both pain and joy—that they’re deeply interconnected. We have woven a web of connection from this life to this death through our hands and hearts coming together to minister to this body. And we have done so in a ritual that is ageless and tribal from time immemorial. |