For those in Maine - a death and burial ?

[POOHsie]

My dad died on New Year's day in Upstate New York. We had the funeral, but not the burial. Dad was cremated and his container of ashes sat on a shelf at the funeral home until a Spring burial. Pretty sure mom was there, but there was no burial ceremony for friends and family.

[luvmarypoppins]

Just a little update. My cousin said they have still not had the burial.

He did say his step dad did order a headstone so that is ready.

My cousin asked his step dad when the burial was going to be. He said make it on a saturday so everyone can come up etc.

All his step dad said was well it cant be one week end because thats mothers day, it cant be another week end because that would have been their anniversary, it cant be another week end because that would have been her birthday etc.

My heart is just breaking for my cousin.

Honestly, I dont know if the ground is not ready yet, or maybe his step dad might not be ready to say good bye yet? Does that sound strange. Maybe its just me thinking that but I dont want to mention it to my cousin.

All my cousin says he keeps saying how sad and lonely he is (step dad)

Also during May my cousin might go with his dd and grandkids to disney and that kind of would be a last minute thing anyway but that is on the back burner too because of this.

I feel like my cousin wants some closure and just is not getting it etc.

So if anyone is up in that area, have they been having the spring burials yet?

[maddiel]

You might want to google the local newspaper or funeral home website and scan some of the recent obituaries to see if they are still delaying burials. It's often noted here in the obituary after the details about the memorial service or funeral that "interment will take place in the spring" or something similar.

M.

[dchi]

My Father in law was buried in Maine two weeks ago today. North Berwick, Maine to be exact. There was some talk as to if they would be able to do the burial at that time. In the end they were able to. So I figure they just started to be able to do burials in his area around 2 weeks ago.

[AnnaS]

Can you call the cemetery?

When my bil died three years ago - funeral day we woke up to 18" inches of snow - they could not bury him so he was put in a holding crypt. The family was told that the family would be notified and a family member could be present when they buried him. My dh ended up going.

For my dad two years ago - we had 23 inches of snow but he was placed in the crypt (what I call the wall/draws) so no problem there for us. We actually should have postponed the funeral (if we knew we even had the option) since we had to get picked up more than a block away with a pick-up truck. Still shaking my head over this

[712Alliance]

My husband is from Buffalo. his grandmother died in January. She wasn't buried until May. The family also held the funeral then.

[leebee]

Originally Posted by dchi

My Father in law was buried in Maine two weeks ago today. North Berwick, Maine to be exact. There was some talk as to if they would be able to do the burial at that time. In the end they were able to. So I figure they just started to be able to do burials in his area around 2 weeks ago.

North Berwick is in the southern part of the state. Go online to the Bangor Daily News and check the obits to see if they mention burials or "burial in the spring". We are just getting into the 40s consistantly ( daffodils are about two inches tall) so it wouldn't surprise me if the ground is still frozen.

[ronandannette]

This is fascinating; as a former funeral director who spent endless hours standing by at graveside services during freezing cold and blizzards I have never heard of this before. We live through six months of winter annually and the frost can penetrate four feet or more; we open our graves with a backhoe - no problem. Just curious - do the construction companies in your areas stop digging basements in the winter too?

[goofinoff]

I think it depends on the cemetery too. My aunt passed away in February and was buried 2 days after the big blizzard. (I'm in maine, too) but my friends mother passed away a couple of weeks ago and they waits to bury her until this week. I wonder if it depends on what kind of equipment the cemetery has.

[StitchesGr8Fan]

If they were Jewish, she would be in the ground in 48 hours, no exceptions. We just went to a funeral in early February and the backhoes had no problem getting through the snow and frozen ground. (Northern IL by the lake). We had to stand next to the grave while her casket was totally covered. (Another tradition). We were freezing and so were the workers, but it got done.

[yoopermom]

I grew up in SE WI (200 miles south of here) and everyone is buried right away. Here, in the U.P., there are no winter burials. Usually they start by the middle of April, but we still have quite a bit of frost in the ground, so I'm guessing it'll be beginning to middle of May. They literally put the vaults in a storage shed on the cemetary grounds until then. Needless to say, I want to be cremated....

Terri

[Dsnyfireman]

It's not that that they can't dig up the ground but most cemetery's here in maine don't want to have the ground all around the grave turn to mud in the spring, which it will if you dig it up when frozen and replaced with all the frost( ice) in it. Also most cemetery's dont plow their roads so the family would have to have all the snow removed to get to the plot to do the burial. That would be very expensive to do. We do dig foundation's in the winter, but very few, and we are not refilling them with frozen dirt again so the dont get soupy. I have lived in maine my whole life (37 years) and have never been to a burial in the winter, and I do a lot of masonic and police and fire funurals. I hope that they can bury her soon for those of you left behind so you can have some closure and be at peace.

[ChattaAlley]

I just found this out myself. I never knew they didn't bury until spring. A Co-Workers MIL died in Dec. I saw on the calander a few weeks ago that she is to be off in April (this week actually) for breavement. I thought to myself "how do you know ahead of time that someone is going to die". I was later informed the MIL lived in MA and that they cannot bury until spring. It does make sense though but living in the South I would have never thought about that.

[Arielle22]

Originally Posted by PelletierBears

What on Earth! What happens at the first burials of the year that family can't be there? I would want to be at my mom or dad's burial and it would take an extreme issue to keep me from it.

Around here you are not at the burial. The casket is placed on a platform above the open grave. It is not lowered until mourners are gone. So even if you are at the gravesite, you don't see the actual burial.

My mom died in February. We had the Mass and then a service in the chapel at the cemetary. She was not buried until the ground thawed.

[Neelloc]

I live in the Buffalo area.

We had a family member pass away in February a few years ago. She was buried in a cemetery in the area and the burial was not delayed. This was at a church cemetery.

I wonder if it's more an issue of the cemetery not having the proper equipment as opposed to the ground being frozen.