Natural Burial A Gentle Return to the Earth BY GAIL FINKE
CALVARY CEMETERY’S ST. KATERI NATURE PRESERVE
Every family’s reason for desiring natural burial is different. “I’ve talked to about 400 families pre-planning burials in the St. Kateri Nature Preserve,” said Scott Wright, Community Outreach Director for Calvary Cemetery in Dayton. “Some are concerned about the environment, some don’t like the chemical process of embalming, some just like the way the area looks and works.” Calvary Cemetery encompasses eight acres of land designed specifically for burials without vaults. Families inter cremated remains in biodegradable urns, natural wood or seagrass caskets – or forego a casket and use a traditional shroud. Named for St. Kateri Tekakwitha and planned with help from Brother Don Geiger, S.M., and the Marianists at Mount St. John Nature Preserve, the newer preserve opened in 2014. Planted with native prairie grasses and wildflowers, it includes a lake and walking paths that provide a natural setting for visitors’ quiet contemplation. “About 20-percent of our burials and presales are in the preserve,” Wright said. Families can choose burial spots near the gravel paths, which may be marked by engraved boulders, or in wide meadow areas bordered by stone “sheepfold walls” where the dead are memorialized together. With graves marked in the Global Information System, a GPS device helps staff take visitors to the 1 6 | THE CATHOLIC TELE G RAPH
The St. Kateri Tekakwith Nature Preserve at Calvary Cemetery in Dayton.
correct gravesite. “The biggest question we get is about scattering ashes in our preserve,” Wright said. While Catholic teaching permits cremation, ashes must be kept together and buried or interred in a way that respects the dignity of the human body. “We explain that scattering may sound romantic, but there’s no place to come and grieve. Calvary provides a place to come on birthdays and holidays, a place to be with the person, pray and remember.” He explained that providing a place to pray at the graveside is integral to the cemetery’s mission. Requests for burial in the nature preserve are so high that Calvary already plans an expansion. “This is not a passing fad,” Wright said. “When people say, ‘Mom and Dad are buried in the preserve, will there be space for me?’ we are committed to being able to answer ‘Yes.’ Calvary has been serving the people of the Dayton area for 150 years, and we will continue to be here for them.” NATURAL BURIAL IN CINCINNATI
All Catholic cemeteries in the Archdiocese of Cincinnati permit traditional embalming as well as new alternatives not based on formaldehyde. While often requested in Dayton, the demand
