Combining tradition, compassion, innovation, and investment in state-of-the-art equipment and facilities, Dignity Memorial^® providers in some parts of the country offer a range of end-of-life options: 

• Burial
• Cremation
• Water cremation
• Human composting

What’s more: We’re experts in planning funerals, memorials and celebrations of life. From a solemn ceremony to a joy-filled event, we know just what to do to create a uniquely beautiful and heartfelt tribute with attention to detail like no other. We guide you through your options with care, so you can make the best choice for yourself and your loved ones.

We offer burial, cremation and two alternative options: water cremation and human composting, resulting in ashes or soil. We can help arrange a funeral, memorial or celebration of life, no matter which option you choose.

Burial

Burial is the most traditional choice, and it may be the option with which you’re most familiar. A final gesture of love and respect, and a dignified practice that holds deep significance for many cultures and religions, burial lays a loved one to rest in the ground.

A casketed burial in a cemetery or memorial park:

• Provides a sense of closure, so family and friends can begin the process of grieving and healing.
• Creates a permanent place for reflection and remembrance for generations to come.
• Allows for a choice of property types.
• Can be customized with a grave marker or headstone, helping tell the story of a special life.

Some Dignity Memorial providers also offer alternative burial options. Cedar Lawns Memorial Park in Redmond, Washington, includes a burial site that promotes the growth of native trees, shrubs and wildflowers. Established in 2016 and certified by the Green Burial Council, it meets strict guidelines. Abbey View Memorial Park in Brier, Washington, also accommodates green burials, though it's not a certified provider. Those are just two examples.

Learn more

 

Find a provider

 

Cremation

Dating back thousands of years, cremation uses intense heat to turn a loved one’s body into ashes. A family might choose to keep the ashes at home in an urn or divide them among family members in keepsakes. Ashes may also be scattered in a personally meaningful place or memorialized in a cemetery.

More and more people are choosing cremation over traditional burial for their loved ones and themselves. In fact, cremation has become the preferred choice in both the United States and Canada. According to the National Funeral Directors Association, the U.S. cremation rate was 62% in 2024.

We specialize in cremation services that honor loved ones in personalized ways, and families love our transparent pricing. Most aren’t familiar with their many cremation options. Families may choose:

• Cremation without a funeral or memorial service of any kind.
• A funeral with the loved one present, followed by cremation.
• Cremation followed by a scattering, cemetery memorialization or celebration of life—or all three.

Learn more

 

Find a provider

 

Water cremation

Some consider water cremation a gentler form of cremation. Also known as alkaline hydrolysis or flameless cremation, this alternative transforms a loved one’s body into ashes much like those from flame cremation.

Here’s how it works:

• A loved one is placed in a special vessel containing warm water and alkaline chemicals. To accelerate the natural breakdown, the fluid is heated and gently agitated.
• In a few hours, all that’s left of a loved one’s body are bone fragments and a sterile solution containing salts, sugars and protein molecules.
• The bone fragments are dried and carefully processed into ashes before they are returned to the loved one’s family.

If the idea of fire makes you uncomfortable or you feel concern about the impact of traditional cremation on the environment, water cremation may be an alternative for you. Plus, water cremation allows for limitless ways to memorialize your loved one. At the end of the process, you’ll have your loved one’s ashes to scatter, keep close or create a permanent cemetery memorial.

As of December 2024, water cremation is available at a limited number of funeral homes in only about half of the United States.

 

Learn more

 

Find a provider

 

Human composting

Also known as natural organic reduction, human composting is the newest alternative. It represents a beautiful return to nature. Over a 45-day process, a loved one’s body is transformed by organic elements into nutrient-rich soil.

Here’s how it works:

• To prepare a loved one for transformation, we gently wash and dress them in a biodegradable shroud.
• The loved one is placed on a layer of organic mulch and woodchip in a vessel designed especially for composting. Handpicked local wildflowers are scattered over the loved one before the vessel is sealed.
• With a little water, a little heat and the careful balancing of carbon, nitrogen and oxygen, we create the perfect conditions for naturally occurring microorganisms to break down the body and gently transform it into soil.
• After about six weeks, the composting process is complete. Approximately a half cubic yard of nutrient-rich soil remains. A family is welcome to take all of it home, but most take only a small amount and opt to donate the rest to a reforestation project.

Washington was the first state to legalize human composting. As of December 2024, it’s legal in 12 states, though it’s not yet available in all of them.

Learn more

 

Find a provider

 

Funerals, celebrations, cemetery memorialization

We believe that every family should have the chance to honor their loved one with a personalized event and/or a cemetery memorial.

When you plan with us, we work with you to customize an event to best reflect your or your loved one’s legacy. A funeral offers family and friends the opportunity to grieve together and pay their respects to a loved one. A celebration of life is a more uplifting event focused on cherished memories, stories and shared moments of reflection. Any service can include cultural or religious elements, if desired. From helping you select songs, readings and prayers to setting a theme and arranging catering, we’re experts at personalization.

When it comes to cemetery memorialization, there are so many options, including:

• Cremation niches
• Cremation burial and scattering gardens
• Cremation jewelry and keepsakes
• Individual plots
• Companion plots and family estates
• Mausoleums

No matter what your choices are, they may all be planned in advance. Making a detailed plan before it’s needed lets you specify your wishes and fund them ahead of time. That way, your family doesn’t have to guess what you would have liked or find the money to pay for it. By proactively pre-planning, you give your family the gift of spending time remembering, grieving and healing with fewer things to worry about. We can help you understand how to plan, how to pay in installments and how to talk to your family about your decisions.

Learn more

The Dignity Difference

Dignity Memorial providers serve hundreds of thousands of families each year. In fact, we care for more families than any other provider in North America. When you partner with Dignity Memorial professionals, you get benefits you’ll find nowhere else.