Cremation
With our onsite crematory at Laurel Hill West, we ensure your loved one is always with us and cared for until they are returned to you. Cremation does not limit a family’s choices, but offers them many alternatives for a place of final rest.
Parting Stones
Laurel Hill has partnered with Parting Stone® to offer a unique alternative to ashes.
Parting Stone’s solidification process returns 100% of cremated remains as a collection of 40-80 beautiful stones. The appearance of the solidified remains varies naturally from person to person in shape, color, and texture, making each collection uniquely special. These stones can be touched, displayed and shared to help you feel close and connected to your loved one in daily life. If you already have a loved one’s ashes in an urn, this is a beautiful memorial option to consider.
Scattering &
Reflection Gardens
Laurel Hill West
The Reflection Garden at Laurel Hill West is a perfect, inexpensive and dignified way to honor your loved one. Families may have all or a portion of their loved one’s cremated remains released in the Reflection Garden and permanently memorialized in our Book of Life. Located near our historic crematory and chapel, the Reflection Garden is a natural setting of mature trees and seasonal plantings, with an elegant fountain completing this beautiful and serene resting place.
Laurel Hill East
The Scattering Garden at Laurel Hill East overlooks magnificent views of the Schuylkill River. Families may have all or a portion of their loved one’s cremated remains released in the Scattering Garden and permanently memorialized with an inscription on the stone wall.
Location of Choice
Scattering may be done in many places and may necessitate services of a third party. Our staff can facilitate such arrangements and monitor the process. Some locales may not allow such releasing to take place, and therefore it is important to see if your choice of location allows cremated remains to be released.
In-Ground
Cremation Property
We offer many serene areas in our cemeteries for the burial of cremated remains. Properties can accommodate the burial of two cremated remains. Cremation property packages allow for one flush marker to memorialize your loved one.
Granite-front Niches & Niche Benches
Our Mausoleum of Peace and Pines Terrace community mausoleums at Laurel Hill West offer granite-front niches and Telford Garden granite niche benches as a an attractive final resting place for your loved one’s cremated remains.
Interior Glass-front Niches
Inside our magnificent Chapel of Peace at Laurel Hill West, families have a choice of glass-front niches for the permanent resting place of their loved one’s cremated remains, allowing for a decorative urn showcased in a protective glass columbarium.
Cremation for
Green Burial
Let Your Love Grow
Cremated remains may be interred in a biodegradable urn and must be mixed with a special organic medium called Let Your Love Grow. The cremation process leaves remains that are highly alkaline which, if applied directly to the soil, can actually harm plant roots and prevent plant growth. For burial in all three of our green burial sections, we require that cremated remains be mixed with Let Your Love Grow. This product was designed specifically to neutralize the alkalinity of cremated remains so that they can be incorporated into the soil safely and contribute to native plant life effectively.
Creative Memorialization
There are many beautiful new and unique ways to memorialize your loved one.
Jewelry
By extracting carbon from cremated remains using extreme heat and pressure, a simulated diamond or other gem can be created.
Artwork
Artists will combine cremated remains with oil paint and create a painting of choice, including portraits and landscapes.
Burial at Sea
Releasing of cremated remains as well as full-body burial at sea is available from the U.S. Navy, for veterans and their families, and others who have performed notable service to the U.S. government, as determined by the chief of Naval Operations. Commercial operators also offer releasing of cremated remains at sea.
Reef Construction
Cremated remains can be combined with concrete to create new marine habitats for fish and other forms of sea life.
Space
A ceremonial portion of cremated remains can be included in a rocket launched into an earth orbit.
Aerial Scattering
Commercial operators will release cremated remains from the air at a specified location.
We can introduce you to the providers of the services mentioned above. Contact a Family Service Representative to learn more about these options.