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The younger generation of funeral directors is particularly eager to try out fresh ideas. When Tyler Cassity, 33, took over a 64-acre Los Angeles cemetery that is the resting ground of silent-film star Rudolph Valentino and mobster Bugsy Siegel, it had crumbled into disrepair. Now the site, renamed Hollywood Forever, is known for producing short documentaries about the deceased. In the on-site theater mourners can view the film in "kind of a premiere," says Cassity. The films are also made available on the Internet and as DVD keepsakes. "We live in a culture here in L.A. that believes, with enough trips to the gym and plastic surgery, death is something that can be denied or cheated," says Joe Sehee, the cemetery's director of new development. "Our philosophy is that death is natural and we have to understand it and embrace it--and maybe even have fun with it."
Debora Kellom, director of operations for Wade Funeral Home in St. Louis, Mo., works far from Hollywood, but she has embraced the new trend too. Kellom has designed her home's viewing rooms to reflect the popular pastimes of her African-American clientele. One is a TV den with golf clubs and a La-Z-Boy; another is called Big Moma's Kitchen and displays a can of Crisco sitting atop a stove, Wonder Bread on the fridge and a dinette table loaded with real fried chicken. "What we had been doing traditionally wasn't as meaningful," explains Kellom. Many black mothers "take pride in those Sunday meals, and that is what we celebrate," she says.
Some people are opting for a simpler approach. Babs McDonald, 49, and her husband Ken Cordell, 59, of Athens, Ga., have already bought plots in Ramsey Creek Preserve, a 33-acre South Carolina cemetery dedicated to environmentally friendly burials. They shudder at the thought of going the "conventional route"--being embalmed and then buried in a fancy casket. "Just dig a hole, put me in it, then cover me back up," says McDonald. Come that day, they plan to be buried dressed in jeans and T shirts and wrapped in cotton shrouds. Says Cordell, an environmental scientist: "I figure I'll just fertilize a tree or two."
Cremation is an increasingly popular choice for many people. Just a decade ago, only 18% of Americans were cremated; today, 27% are, and the Cremation Association of North America predicts that number will jump to 48% by 2025. That's owing, in part, to the swell of immigrants who practice Hinduism or Buddhism, as well as to the relaxing attitudes of the Roman Catholic Church, which began to allow cremation in the 1960s. Others are drawn by the convenience and low cost. A traditional funeral runs about $5,800, with burial fees adding $2,000 more. Cremation costs about $1,000. Cremated remains--called cremains in industry lingo--can be kept at home in urns, buried on family property (in all states except California) or scattered at sea.