Rising from the ashes: A tree, a rock or a leaping dolphin

The memorials, of concrete reinforced with glass fibre, can be arrayed around the yard to be admired or meditated on, whether survivors are gardening or grilling hamburgers.

‘‘Our motto is: ‘Keeping your memory close to home,’’’ said Stephen Hartmann, marketing director of the company.

As cremation rates climb nationwide, more people are finding creative ways to display the ashes of their loved ones and commemorate their lives. Funeral directors say aging baby boomers find traditional urns grim and old-fashioned. They want something befitting their personalities and lifestyles: A bronze-and-gold King Tut mask perhaps, or an enormous, fibreglass toad.

‘‘It’s not your mom and dad’s funeral practice anymore,’’ said one funeral director. ‘‘People want variety.’’ The trend is largely driven by a national cremation rate that’s risen from 9 per cent in 1982 to about 26 per cent as of 2001, according to the Cremation Association of North America. The Chicago-based group consists of 1,500 funeral homes, crematories, casket-makers and cemeteries.

‘‘People are always asking us about interesting things to do with cremated remains,’’ said its executive director, Jack Springer. In the last few years, he’s seen urns shaped like golf bags, cowboy boots and lifelike busts of the deceased.

Batesville Casket Co., one of the nation’s largest manufacturers of urns and coffins, has a full-colour catalogue with more than 100 models of vessels, ranging from mule deer to starfish. ‘‘We did a generational study and found the older generation still preferred tradition while the baby boomers wanted something different and personal,’’ said Joe Weigel, head of communications for the Batesville, Ind., company. ‘‘We found they still wanted to honour the dead,’’ he added.

‘‘The Clausen Funeral Home in Ojai recently opened an urn showroom that features wooden urns etched with mountain and sports scenes. If a person is a golfer, we have a golfing motif,’’ said Chester Perry, funeral director at Clausen. In addition to urns, he said, ‘‘we have a birdbath, a water fountain with an urn beneath, a sundial and a rock.’’ (LATWP)