Hortonville Cemetery has county’s first columbarium

Structure reflects a growing trend in burials

By FRITZ MAYER

HORTONVILLE, NY — Of the burials in the Hortonville Cemetery over the past two years, 55 percent have been the traditional in-ground type. Forty-five percent have been the burial of ashes resulting from cremation. The local numbers reflect a national trend in which more and more Americans are choosing cremation each year.

Recognizing this trend, plot-holders of the Hortonville Cemetery on North Branch Road voted in April to have the trustees purchase a columbarium, reportedly the first one in Sullivan County, for the purpose of interring the ashes of a cremated body, which are called cremains.

The columbarium, made of granite, except for the covers of the niches, which are made of marble, consists of 32 niches, each having about one cubic of space.

Harold Roeder, vice-president of the board of the nondenominational, non-profit corporation that operates the cemetery, says the cost is much less than that of a traditional burial. The niches cost $950 on the lower two rows, and $1,050 on the upper two rows. These rather modest costs are in contrast to traditional burials where there is a $300 plot cost, $1,000 for the cement vault now required for burials in New York State and a casket which can run from $2,000 to much higher. The cost of a head-stone can also run from $2,000 to much more. (In the place of a headstone, the marble block at the front of the niche can be engraved with the name, dates and other relevant information.)

Arnold Baum, the secretary and treasurer of the board, said apart from the cost savings, the columbarium offers people a way to respectfully treat ashes of loved ones that may have been stored for years with the family. Another group that may be attracted to the idea is widows and widowers who take a new partner. The new spouse might not like the idea of having the cremains of his or her predecessor in permanent residence on the fireplace mantle.

If demand for columbarium space proves to be as strong as board members think it will be, they may erect another one in the future, and it seems that popularity of cremations is unstoppable at this point.

Forty years ago, fewer than five per cent of Americans chose cremation as the end-of-life ritual. In 1987, the number jumped to 15 percent. In 2006, more than 32 percent of U.S. deaths ended in cremation, and according to the Cremation Association of North America, the number will pass 50 percent within 25 years.