Cemetery Questions and Answers

No, embalming is not required for burial. It is your choice. It may depend on whether the family has selected a public viewing with an open casket; or to enhance the deceased's appearance for a private family viewing. Public health laws may require embalming if the body is going to be transported by air or rail, or due to the length of time elapsed from the time of death prior to the burial.

Some cemeteries have both traditional upright monument sections and garden sections. Both types of cemeteries may offer above-ground interment in community mausoleums. Both traditional cemeteries and memorial parks may be operated on a for-profit or not-for-profit basis. Cemeteries in B.C. are primarily owned by municipalities, religious or fraternal organizations or by commercial companies.

There are many things to consider when choosing a type of grave, such as:

• What type of memorial do you prefer?
• Do you want a marker set flat on the ground or an upright monument?
• How many burials do you expect to take place?
• Are you arranging for yourself or your family?
• How much do you want to spend?

Think about these questions to help you make the right purchase as graves vary by size, location and by price

The most common in-ground burial option is a single grave and lots that are composed of two or more graves. The Memorial Park Cemetery offers single and double-depth burial options.

The Memorial Park Cemetery allows for the burial of two caskets in a double-depth grave. Double-depth just means that one casket is placed in the grave at an approximate depth of eight feet. When a second interment is required, the second casket is placed on top of the first casket at standard depth.

There is no law that states a specific time frame for burial. Factors that will affect this timeline include:

• Securing all permits and authorizations
• Notifying family and friends
• Preparing the cemetery site
• Religious considerations

Public health laws may have limitations on the maximum length of time allowed to pass prior to final disposition. Contact your local funeral provider or the British Columbia Funeral Association to discuss any applicable regulations.

Besides ground burial, the Prince George Memorial Park Cemetery offers interment in our mausoleum. In addition, we provide choices for those who have selected cremation. These often include placement of cremated remains in a niche of a columbarium or interment in an urn space.

A columbarium, often free-standing in a cemetery or located within a mausoleum or chapel, either indoor or outdoor, is constructed of numerous small compartments (niches) designed to hold urns containing cremated remains. The Memorial Park Cemetery offers indoor cremation niches in our mausoleum.

The City of Prince George by-laws do not permit the scattering of cremated remains (also known as "cremains") within the city limits. As long as it is permitted by other local regulations, your cremated remains can be scattered in a place that is meaningful to you.

Once scattered, cremated remains can't easily be recollected; this is an important decision requiring careful consideration. Having your remains placed, interred or scattered on a cemetery's grounds ensures that future generations will have a place to go to remember. If remains are scattered somewhere outside the cemetery, many cemeteries will allow you to place a memorial of some type on the cemetery grounds, so survivors have a place to visit that will always be maintained and preserved.

Scattering your cremains can present difficulties for your surviving loved ones. Some people may find it hard to simply pour the mortal remains of a loved one out onto the ground or into the sea. If you wish to be scattered somewhere, it is important to discuss your wishes ahead of time with the person or persons who will actually have to do the scattering.

Another issue with scattering cremains can occur when the remains are disposed of in an anonymous, unmarked or public place. Access to the area may be restricted for some reason in the future, undeveloped land may be developed or other conditions may arise that could make it difficult for your survivors to visit the site to remember you. Even if your cremated remains are scattered in your backyard, what happens if your survivors relocate sometime in the future?

Burial vaults and grave liners are the outside containers into which a casket is placed. Burial vaults are designed to protect the casket and may be made of a variety or combination of materials including concrete, plastic or fiberglass.

A grave liner is a lightweight version of a burial vault which simply keeps the grave surface from sinking in. Liners are required for all full and cremation interments in the Memorial Park Cemetery.

The Memorial Park Cemetery requires the use of a basic grave liner for maintenance and safety purposes. A grave liner or a burial vault will satisfy these requirements.

Lawn crypts are underground tombs, constructed of reinforced concrete, steel and waterproof materials. The Memorial Park Cemetery does not offer lawn crypts at this time.

Disinterment is the removal of the casket containing human remains from a grave. Disinterment can also refer to the removal of cremated remains from a grave. Disinterment may be ordered by public officials without the consent of the grave owner or the next of kin for certain situations, such as a police investigation.

Individuals or families may also request disinterment, if for example they would like to have the human remains relocated to another grave in the cemetery, to a mausoleum or possibly shipped to a country of birth.

Disinterment requires the grave to be opened. The casket containing the human remains is removed. Depending on the length of time the casket has been buried, a new casket may be required. The grave is then closed.

A portion of the price paid for right of interment is contributed to an endowment or a perpetual care fund. The Memorial Park Cemetery contributes 25% of the grave space funds to our perpetual care fund. The minimum amount to be contributed to the endowment care fund is governed by provincial law. Income from the endowment care fund is used to provide regular care and maintenance at the cemetery, including:

• Cutting grass
• Re-grading of graves
• Planting and caring for trees
• Maintaining water supply systems, roads, drainage, etc.

Endowment or perpetual care funds in B.C. are protected by law and are very conservatively managed. Income from the fund can only be spent on care and maintenance of the cemetery. The principal of a cemetery's care fund is protected by provincial cemetery legislation.

For more information send us an email.

Cemeteries usually are divided into two broad categories: traditional cemeteries and memorial parks or gardens. A traditional cemetery, the type used for many generations, has upright monuments, usually made of stone. Many traditional cemeteries also have private mausoleums for above-ground interment. Because many have functioned in their communities for over 100 years, traditional cemeteries typically contain a great deal of history, such as architecture, statuary and other art, as well as the personages interred there. They often also have lush landscaping and greenery.

Memorial parks and gardens are a newer type of cemetery introduced about 85 years ago. They are cemeteries without tombstones and feature parks and gardens where bronze memorials are placed level with the ground to blend with the beauty of the landscape. They often feature expansive lawns with a variety of trees, flowering beds and gardens, as well as fountains, sculptures or memorial architecture.

The actual opening of the grave and closing of the grave is just one component of the opening and closing fee. Because of safety issues related to the use of machinery on cemetery property and the protection of the property of adjacent interment rights holders, the actual opening and closing of the grave is conducted by cemetery grounds personnel only.

Grave prices can vary. Grave prices are usually set based on their location. Graves in urban centres are usually more expensive than graves in rural centres because of the replacement value of land.

Graves which allow for an upright monument may be more expensive due to the space required for the monument.

We think of cemetery lands as being in perpetuity. There are cemeteries throughout the world that have been in existence for hundreds of years.

When a cemetery runs out of land, it will continue to operate and serve the community. Since more individuals and families are purchasing their graves in advance, graves which have been sold will be opened when a death occurs, markers will be placed and other services will be provided.

B.C. law requires funds to be set aside from each interment rights sale and each memorial installation for the long-term care and maintenance of the cemetery. The amount to be set aside will vary depending on the type of space selected or the form and size of memorial installed.

Opening and closing fees can include fifty or more separate services provided by the cemetery. Typically, the opening and closing fee includes:

• Administration and permanent record keeping, such as determining ownership, obtaining permission and the completion of any other documentation required, entering the interment particulars in the interment register and maintaining legal files
• Opening and closing the grave (locating the grave and laying out the boundaries, excavating and filling the interment space)
• Installation and removal of the lowering device
• Placement and removal of artificial grass dressing and coco-matting at the grave site
• Leveling, tamping, re-grading and sodding the grave site
• Leveling and re-sodding the grave if the earth settles                   

To remember, and be remembered, are natural human needs. A permanent memorial in a cemetery provides a place for remembrance and memorializing the deceased. Throughout history, memorialization of the dead has been a key component of almost every culture.

Psychologists say that remembrance practices, from the funeral or memorial service to permanent memorialization, serve an important emotional function for survivors by helping to bring closure and allowing the healing process to begin. Providing a permanent resting place for the deceased is a dignified treatment for a loved one's mortal remains, which fulfills the natural human desire for memorialization.

Communities afford respect to cemeteries and to the memorialization which cemeteries provide. In order to protect interment rights holders, strict rules govern the use of cemetery lands. Graves are normally considered to be sold in perpetuity which restricts possible re-development.

Historically, the word mausoleum comes from the large temple-like structure which was erected by Queen Artemisia in the ancient city of Harlicarnassua as the final resting place for her late husband, King Mausolus. Mausolus, from which the word mausoleum comes from, ruled over Caria in Asia Minor and died in 353 B.C. His mausoleum is now regarded as the fifth of the Seven Wonders of the World. The pyramids of Egypt and the Taj Mahal in India are other examples of ancient mausolea.

A community mausoleum is simply a large building designed to provide above-ground entombment for a number of people. Sharing the costs of the mausoleum with other individuals makes it more affordable than a private mausoleum.

Crypts are designed to hold casketed remains. Following a casket entombment, the crypt is sealed, and a granite or marble front is attached. Niches will accommodate urns containing cremated remains. Following an urn entombment, a niche front of granite, marble, bronze, wood or glass is attached.

Entombment is the interment of human remains in a tomb or mausoleum. It involves placing a casket or cremation urn in a crypt or niche (individual compartment within a mausoleum or columbarium) which is then sealed.

Yes. Memorial Park Cemetery Mausoleum provides single crypts, designed for one entombment only, plus companion crypts which permit two entombments side by side.  Most mausolea are built five, six and seven crypts high. The price of the crypt will depend on its location and the type of crypt. For example, upper level crypts are usually less expensive than those located at eye or heart level.

No. When you visit a mausoleum, you see the front of the crypt, which typically is made of granite or marble. The name of the person who has died, along with their years of birth and death, appear on the crypt front. The casket rests behind a solid, sealed panel which is placed behind the granite or marble crypt front.

When you select a mausoleum, you eliminate the need for the expense of vaults and monuments or memorials which almost always are purchased with ordinary earth burial.

Because the casket is placed in a clean, dry, above-ground crypt, the remains are protected from water and the elements of the earth.

The Memorial Park Cemetery has two types of crypts, single for one entombment and companion crypts for two entombments.

In most cases, the cost of mausoleum entombment is comparable to the costs of interment in a plot with an upright monument.

Mausoleum crypts are both clean and dry and often are located indoors for year-round comfort for visitors. They also offer an alternative for those who are uncomfortable with being interred in the ground. Furthermore, with the growing worldwide shortage of available land for cemetery use, mausolea allow for a maximum number of entombments in a minimum amount of space.

Modern mausoleums are steel-reinforced concrete structures, covered with granite or marble. They typically are built to meet all local building specifications, including those regarding earthquakes.

You may sell your interment rights (to a grave space) to the Memorial Park Cemetery (less the perpetual care fund contribution), or transfer the interment rights to a family member. The payment of an administration fee would be required.

Yes, usually arrangements are made in advance. When you plan ahead, you will be able to consider the many options available. You will have the opportunity to make an informed decision about your funeral and cemetery arrangements and the form of memorial you prefer. You will be able to make choices that are meaningful to both you and your family, and you will gain peace of mind knowing your family and friends will be relieved of the emotional and financial burden often associated with making arrangements when a death occurs.

By prearranging your funeral and cemetery services, you benefit by purchasing at today's prices, free from inflationary pressures in the future. Be sure to check whether the contract of your local provider guarantees prices. The Memorial Park Cemetery and your funeral service provider, or British Columbia Funeral Association can help you preplan.

Prince George Cemetery By-law No. 8046, 2008 permits a partial refund of plot fees at the request of the purchaser. The perpetual care fund contribution is not refundable.

No. When you purchase a grave you are in fact purchasing the right to designate who may be interred in the space, rather than purchasing the grave itself. The land and control over that land remains the property and responsibility of the Memorial Park Cemetery. You also acquire the right to place a memorial, subject to the rules and regulations for memorials established for the lot, where permitted.