funeral directors – Natural Burials

Over the 20 years running our organisation, support from funeral directors has come most from those with progressive and customer-focused ideas. The Funeral Directors Association, and many older funeral directors tried to stop us by raising nonsense doubts over things like health and safety.

Our first major supporter was Simon Manning, founder of Harbour City Funeral Homes. In 1989, when he was 24, he started a funeral director service breaking away from the old pattern and determined to deliver what customers wanted. Open-minded, trend-watching and entrepreneurial, Simon, now semi-retired, treated us and the concept seriously. He supported us to Wellington Council, encouraged customers, and bought the first caskets we had to make because no other coffin maker would.

In the early days, as natural cemeteries were slowly and warily being added by Councils working with us, it was the modern and often “break away” Funeral Directors who gave their support. Old school funeral homes were politely not interested. This has never bothered us, as our key principle is choice. If people want old style funerals, and steel caskets in rows of deep graves or mausoleums, they should be able to – and they ought to have experts who can help them.

So for many years the funeral directors we certified were largely younger and “modern”, offering the new trend of “personalised funerals”. Major supporters in this group State of Grace in Auckland, who were part of an informal group of individuals like us, interested in the early 2000s in the fledgling global ‘natural death’ movement. We are also in gratitude to Fiona King, who started the innovative Broadbent and May Funeral Directors in Wellington.

By the late 2010s, natural burials was firmly established and not going away. Nothing shows this more clearly than our collaboration with Carterton District council on a natural burial Totara Grove at Clareville cemetery in 2017. Locals such as the social reformer Helen Dew pushed the Council, but what stood out as different from previous efforts was the support of Richmond Funeral Home. Peter and Jenny Giddens run the only full funeral home facility in the South Wairarapa, based in Carterton. They were one of the first to shift and fuse “traditional values” with personalised funerals.

So now the public has a range of choices in funeral directors certified for natural burials. All certified directors are guaranteed to offer natural burials and respond positively to requests for related personalised services. But every funeral director has their own style, and there is one to fit every family who wants a natural burial.

We’re pleased to announce that Wairarapa Funeral Services are now certified by us for high quality conduct of natural burials.

The team are enthusiasts, and have already helped families this year with natural burials.

Traysea French, one of the funeral directors, says the company understands why people love the concept.

“What moves us most about natural burials is the way you can truly be part of the journey. Lining the grave with flowers, greenery, hand lowering and replacing the earth on and around your loved one (versus a stranger) can help embrace people’s grief journey in a healthy way, creating meaningful final acts of love.

She says natural burials are multi-faceted. “It’s not only about sustainability; it’s about connection, care, and returning to the earth that has sustained us through life.

” Preserving land by restoring native bush and forests; natural burials help create living, breathing places of peace, as well as conserving and supporting our ecosystem. Loved one’s can visit, reflect, and know their person continues to nurture life.” Traysea says.

The Wairarapa is fortunate to have a natural burial section in Clareville Cemetery, just 15 minutes down the road from Masterton.

Picture: Wairarapa funeral service directors; Traysea French, Rob Milne, Trixie Duckett

Full range of certified funeral directors

Wairarapa Funerals now certified

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