Coast river business journal., July 20, 2022, Page 14, Image 14

BUSINESS NEWS
14 • JULY 2022
COAST RIVER BUSINESS JOURNAL
‘WE JUST WANT PEOPLE TO KNOW THAT WE’RE A
SMALL, INDEPENDENT FAMILY-OWNED BUSINESS.
WE HAVE A CREMATORIUM ON SITE AND LOOK
TO HAVE EVERYTHING DONE IN A TIMELY
FASHION. WE BEND OVER BACKWARDS FOR
FAMILIES. EVERY SITUATION IS DIFFERENT AND
IT’S MORE PERSONALIZED WHEN IT’S LOCAL.’
Eric Anderson, Owner of Penttila’s Chapel by the Sea and Hughes-Ransom Funeral Home
Continued from Page 7
Traditional burial
Familiar burial practices, including a church ser-
vice and family viewing, remain a popular send off.
“We still do the traditional options, we can do
the full-service burial at a church or wherever they
want to go,” Meadow said.
“The most expensive part [of a traditional burial]
is going to be the plot, they range from $2,500 to
$3,500 around here,” she said. “There’s also the
human-composting option without the burial plot.”
Burials at sea
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‘Living Tree’ urns utilizes cremated remains for a living memorial.
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Burials at sea ($6,900) are considered more envi-
ronmentally friendly than traditional in-ground burials.
“We could do cremated remains scattered at
sea, or, if you have someone that wanted a Viking
funeral, have them cremated first, then put them in a
boat urn or maybe a water-soluble [vessel] that will
float — and set that on fire,” Meadow said.
“There’s lots of neat ways to do it,” she observed.
A certain distance (3 nautical miles) and depth
(at least 600 feet) is required by law for burials at
sea due to environmental regulations.
“We can do full-body burial at sea [with Pacific
Salmon Charters]. The body can be wrapped in a
sailboat sail and weighted with sand. We then go
6 nautical miles offshore, over the Astoria Canyon
and the body is dropped in. Once it takes on water
and goes to the bottom of the canyon within 24
hours it is part of the natural biome again, meaning
the sand crabs get a hold of it.”
Misconceptions
Among the biggest misconceptions regarding
funeral home services involves embalming.
“People think embalming is required by law,
but it’s not. It’s only required if the family wants a
public viewing or visitation and wants the body to
look a certain way. We can bury people wrapped in
a blanket. We can bury people in a wicker basket.
And water cremation will be more accessible as it
becomes more available and affordable,” Meadow
said.
“As long as it’s legal, moral and ethical, I’m here
to tell you we can do it,” she said.
Budgeting a final destination
Flame cremation is the least costly, costing
about half as much as water cremation.
Another option for flame-cremated remains is
turning them into ‘stones’, as pictured. “One box
of cremated remains will yield roughly 30 stones,
which can be given to different family members,
put at your favorite places or thrown at your
neighbor,” Meadow said.
“Flame cremation is the most affordable across
the board — it’s $1,670 and we can do it here on-site.
Water cremation is $3,000, because you have extra
man hours with the licensed person escorting the
person over to the facility,” Meadow said.
Another option for flame-cremated remains is
turning them into “stones.”
“One box of cremated remains will yield roughly
30 stones, which can be given to different family
members, put at your favorite places or thrown at
your neighbor [ha-ha],” Meadow said.
New owner
In July 2020, Anderson, the owner of the
Hughes-Ransom Funeral Home in Astoria and
Seaside, purchased Penttila’s Chapel by the Sea.
Roughly two years after taking the reins, he gets
a peculiar request from time to time for the Long
Beach-based funeral home.
“We’ve had a few people call about doing wed-
dings here,” Anderson said. “I think because it’s
called ‘Chapel by the Sea’.”
While not a wedding venue, Anderson said they
try their best to accommodate most requests.
“We just want people to know that we’re a small,
independent family-owned business,” he said. “We
have a crematorium on-site and look to have every-
thing done in a timely fashion. We bend over back-
wards for families. Every situation is different and
it’s more personalized when it’s local.”