Made in Southwest
April 2015 | 3
An individual remembrance Eden Prairie’s Foreverence offers custom-made, 3D-printed urns
Just the Facts Business: Foreverence Address: 9963 Valley View Road, Eden Prairie Years in location: 1 Employees: 6
BY KARLA WENNERSTROM editor@edenprairienews.com
“A
n individual life deserves a n i nd iv id u a l remembrance,” said Gra nt Dawson of St. Paul, director of communication for Foreverence. And that’s what the first-of-itskind business offers, a 3D-printed urn personally designed for your loved one. Founder Pete Saari of Maple Grove is an entrepreneur with experience in 3D printing. He had been learning about the funeral industry and thought families would appreciate being able to create something more meaningful and personalized than the urns that were available. There weren’t a lot of options for personalizing the urns, beyond changing the name plate, color or shape slightly. “This provides a totally new level of individualization,” Dawson said, as he displayed an urn in the shape of a baby blue ‘57 Chevy. Dawson said the business pushes the limits of what 3D printers can do. The printed products are ceramic and some have painted details. He said they can be personalized to the point of recreating a dent on that favorite car’s fender. A display case in the Foreverence office highlights a variety of items that have been designed, including urns in the shape of ballet slippers and an African elephant. One of the urns in the display case represents the first item sold by Foreverence. Saari said that he had been working on prototypes for the business, when he learned that Bob Casale, one of the founding members of Devo, had died. Saari thought of the Devo “Energy Dome” red hat and thought, “what a perfect representation of that person’s art and that person’s life,” he said. He reached out to the band’s management team, offered his condolences, said he was a fan and asked if it would be possible for him to make the family aware of their customized urns. Saari heard back within minutes. “This was the first joyful moment in a very dark period of time for them,” he said he was told. Foreverence made two of the Energy Dome urns, designed to the exact dimensions of the band’s hats, and his remains were split between family members.
THE DESIGN PROCESS The usual buyers of a Foreverence product will find the company through funeral planners or contact the company directly
PHOTOS BY KARLA WENNERSTROM
A 3D-printed item fresh off the printer.
Interesting facts: The first urn sold by the company was shaped like an “Energy Dome,” a model of the distinctive red hat worn by the band Devo, and sold to the family of the late Bob Casale, one of the band’s founders. They received this message: “Your efforts filled a pressing need and provided an appropriate, custom-made resting place for Bob’s ashes. I can’t thank you enough for bringing a little positive into these dark days for us.” Website: foreverence.com
Pete Saari of Foreverence with an urn shaped like the Space Shuttle.
The fi rst urn sold by Foreverence was a Devo “Energy Dome” for the late Bob Casale, one of the founding members of the band.
Foreverence founder Pete Saari and director of communication Grant Dawson by the display case. via the website. They will meet with someone from Foreverence to discuss their ideas of what they might want. Sometimes people have something specific in mind, like an African elephant. Sometimes it’s a more vague concept, like “the 1960’s.” They have been asked to design urns in the shape of a pickle and a garden gnome. Foreverence artists present the family with design ideas. For example, for the 19 6 0’s theme, they discussed items including an electric guitar and Jimi Hendrixstyle bandana and a VW bus with “flower power” designs.
When a final design is chosen and approved, it proceeds to 3D printing. In the room where the 3D printing takes place, Dawson and Saari displayed a Space Shuttle-shaped urn that was designed for a NASA systems engineer, who had a key part in designing the shuttle. At 94, he is planning for his end-of-life decisions and decided on the design. “Typically seven to 10 days from when they approve the file, they have their design in hand,” Dawson said. The cost is $2,495. “We help families design and create the per fect memorial,”
Saari said. “That level of perfection is not available in the market. Everybody is having to settle for something that’s close enough or good enough and not something that’s truly perfect.” Dawson said people are not necessarily choosing cremation because it is “cheaper,” they are often choosing it for a variety of other reasons, including that it’s more practical, environmentally friendly, a tradition in the family or that they want to scatter a portion of their ashes in a specific place. The business also offers pet cremation urns under the brand, Foreverence Pets. “The mistake that the funeral service is making is that they believe people who have chosen cremation are doing so because it’s the cheaper option,” Saari said. “It was very important to me
A 3D-printed urn designed to look like a guitar. from the very beginning to make sure everybody understood we are not an advocacy organization,” Saari said. “We are just there for people when they have chosen cremation and chosen they wanted a personal keepsake.” Saari said designing an urn elevates the conversation from choosing an item from a catalog to what was truly important or meaningful in the person’s life. “There’s a sensitivity that is critical to everything we do,” Dawson said. “That’s the reason reverence is in our name.” Saari said that although in this business it would seem that they would be surrounded with grief and sadness, “our product seems to transcend all of that. “Most of our experiences have been literally joyful,” he said. “They can’t believe there’s something so personal and so perfect for their family member. When they get it and receive it there’s this outpouring of joy.”