No-Undertaker Funeral
The following photographs are of a funeral for a friend which was conducted in the woods several miles north of Troy, in northwest Montana in the winter of 1999. When Charlie, a popular local tavern keeper died suddenly, his friends responded immediately. They readied the simple pine casket which had been donated earlier to the town and which Charley had said would be fine with him, "if no one else needs it first"
As some folks readied the casket and put Charley's body in it, others went to the land owned by one of his good friends. They selected a spot in the woods, a place they felt was special to this man and they began digging with shovels. The ground was frozen, so a couple of times they had to move burning logs from their warming fire to the grave site and let it burn there awhile. But in spite of this added difficulty, in less than 4 hours, with people switching off with the digging, the grave was ready.
During this time, Charley's unembalmed body lay in his pine box with the lid screwed shut, in his house with the windows open and the heat turned off. It was winter, so the temperature was quite cold. The grave ready, and friends gathered, these friends then put the casket in the back of a friend's pickup. They took the license plate off Charley's truck and attached it to the end of his casket. Other items characterizing who Charley was, and what he enjoyed, also adorned his casket.
All Charley's friends followed the truck carrying his casket to the spot in the woods 3 miles north of the little Montana town that Charley loved. At the graveside, prayers were prayed, a fitting and often humorous eulogy was read and many wonderful stories were told by many people who knew and liked this man.
When all was said, as the bonfire crackled, Charley's friends filled the grave, each shoveling in a few spades of soil and passing the shovel to the next.
Many commented later that Charley's funeral was the first one they'd ever attended that was "real" No mortician was involved in any way in Charley's burial. No formaldehyde was infused. He would have liked that. We know cause he told us beforehand.
All the parts of a truly meaningful funeral or memorial ceremony are free.
