New Burial Practices?

[AlterEgo]

One of Mr AE’s brothers died on Friday morning in Santo Domingo. I’ve been to many many funerals in DR, and have visited cemeteries all over Santo Domingo, as well as in other cities and in campos. Mausoleums everywhere, fancy for rich and simple for poor.

Since we were unable to attend the wake at Blandino’s or the internment, they sent us videos of both. (Thankfully, no casket photos have surfaced yet, but it’s a Dominican tradition of sorts, so who knows....). Imagine our surprise to see his casket lowered into the ground as it is done in the USA! Apparently this new cemetery, Jardin Memorial, does things differently.

Is this a new trend there, and we were unaware? Is this happening in other cities in DR as well?

 

[Joseph NY2STI]

Fuente de Luz in Santiago is one that I know of. Appearances tell me it's for the well heeled. The municipal cemeteries I've seen are sad. (I'm in the death care business and so I notice these things).

 

[jd426]

Very Sorry for your Husbands loss of his Brother .... Condolences to his Family and friends..

 

[LindseyKaufman]

I pass a cemetery where people are buried in the ground in Santiago on the beltway just before the exit for HOMS. And yes, it appears that it is for the wealthy who are perhaps accustomed to this practice abroad.

Lindsey

 

[DR Solar]

I asked Mike about full body at sea in old customs traditions. Not approved yet but ashes at sea no problem.

 

[NanSanPedro]

Sorry for Mr. AE's loss. I know it hurts.

 

[JD Jones]

One of Mr AE’s brothers died on Friday morning in Santo Domingo. I’ve been to many many funerals in DR, and have visited cemeteries all over Santo Domingo, as well as in other cities and in campos. Mausoleums everywhere, fancy for rich and simple for poor.

Since we were unable to attend the wake at Blandino’s or the internment, they sent us videos of both. (Thankfully, no casket photos have surfaced yet, but it’s a Dominican tradition of sorts, so who knows....). Imagine our surprise to see his casket lowered into the ground as it is done in the USA! Apparently this new cemetery, Jardin Memorial, does things differently.

Is this a new trend there, and we were unaware? Is this happening in other cities in DR as well?

Jardin Memorial has been around for quite a few years now. They have both in-ground and mausoleums available. Not as many trees as I'd like to see (I love trees in cemeteries) but it is a very nice place, and big.

 

[cavok]

I've only been to one funeral here. Family of the deceased are from a barrio here. Poor. It was a very inexpensive casket, but they did lower it into the grave(?). This was a small cemetery near Jamao.

 

[Ecoman1949]

I asked Mike about full body at sea in old customs traditions. Not approved yet but ashes at sea no problem.

I’d be surprised to see full body burial at sea approved anywhere. There are multiple problems with that, the release of toxic formaldehyde used to preserve the body, large pieces of the body being released and refloating during the degradation process, etc. If you can get permission, special coffins with concrete bottoms to keep them on the bottom and small holes to ensure proper degradation, are available but costly. In Canada an ocean disposal permit is required. That plus the cost of the special coffin adds about another 10K to the burial expense. The Navy burial at sea was based on expediency. Ships simply weren’t equipped to handle large numbers of bodies killed during battles. The spreading of ashes at sea honours the tradition in an environmentally friendly way and permission is rarely required.

I wonder if the mausoleum burial is a French tradition carried over to the DR from Haiti. The mausoleums of famous people in Paris and New Orleans cemeteries fascinate me. The French Island of St.Pierre-Miquelon 12 miles off our coast has ornate mausoleums in their cemetery, as well.

My condolences on your loss.

 

[DR Solar]

I’d be surprised to see full body burial at sea approved anywhere. There are multiple problems with that, the release of toxic formaldehyde used to preserve the body, large pieces of the body being released and refloating during the degradation process, etc. If you can get permission, special coffins with concrete bottoms to keep them on the bottom and small holes to ensure proper degradation, are available but costly. In Canada an ocean disposal permit is required. That plus the cost of the special coffin adds about another 10K to the burial expense. The Navy burial at sea was based on expediency. Ships simply weren’t equipped to handle large numbers of bodies killed during battles. The spreading of ashes at sea honours the tradition in an environmentally friendly way and permission is rarely required.

I wonder if the mausoleum burial is a French tradition carried over to the DR from Haiti. The mausoleums of famous people in Paris and New Orleans cemeteries fascinate me. The French Island of St.Pierre-Miquelon 12 miles off our coast has ornate mausoleums in their cemetery, as well.

My condolences on your loss.

You didn't do your homework. Full body without chemicals in organic shroud with weights. Very legal in many areas including the US and other countries. Natural and very cost effective.

 

[Ecoman1949]

You didn't do your homework. Full body without chemicals in organic shroud with weights. Very legal in many areas including the US and other countries. Natural and very cost effective.

In Canada and the US, federal environmental agencies will allow burial at sea but under restrictive conditions. I’d be very surprised if the DR had any regulations relating to burial at sea. Both the US and Canada encourage the disposal of ashes at sea instead of full body burial. Given the extra costs involved, I’m surprised people still consider this form of disposal. I knew it was possible in Canada because I dealt with a few requests when I worked with Environment Canada. As I previously posted, in Canada it adds significantly to the funeral costs for vets and civilians. I also knew about the possibility of burial at sea in the US. In the US, Navy vets have the right to a burial at sea. My Canadian Navy friends made me aware of this. The weighted shroud method is not acceptable in Canada and, although it may be legal in the US, the US EPA prefers alternative measures. I’m not knowledgeable about and can’t speak to burial at sea customs and regulations in other countries.

Our cemeteries are even becoming stricter with full body burials. Some now require plastic exterior liners for the coffins to slow the spread of formaldehyde in cemeteries. More people are choosing cremation as the easier and less expensive option and cemeteries are accommodating their wishes by building a large columbarium capable of holding hundreds of urns.

The lady I’m currently seeing is a widow. Her husband was interred the normal way and she wants to be buried the same way. She has her plot next to him. She knows I want to be cremated and offered me space in her plot. A kind of compliment I suppose. I graciously declined. If what the bible says is true, on Judgement Day we are supposed to rise from the dead to be judged. A shocking enough experience without the added shock of me popping up in front of her and her husband. Lol!

 

[NALs]

I wonder if the mausoleum burial is a French tradition carried over to the DR from Haiti. The mausoleums of famous people in Paris and New Orleans cemeteries fascinate me. The French Island of St.Pierre-Miquelon 12 miles off our coast has ornate mausoleums in their cemetery, as well.

My condolences on your loss.

It has nothing to do with the French and everything to do with the Spanish. Not only is it prevalent in Spain, but all over the former Spanish Empire. It could be a Catholic tradition or maybe Latin (they are prevalent in Italy and in Portugal too), I don't know those particulars. Basically, burying the desd in bóvedas has been on the island for the 200 years before the French arrived and created Saint-Domingue, later called Haiti.

 

[NALs]

I saw this video many months. Bóvedas better than some people's houses in a cemetery in Culiacan, Mexico.

 

[Auryn]

AlterEgo I’m sorry for your family’s loss.

A poor woman from a barrio in San Pedro once told me that they bought her father a very nice coffin but she took a hammer to it so he could rest peacefully and would not be disturbed. He was buried in a mausoleum I believe. This is apparently because grave robbers take the coffins, or rob them, and get a good price?
It could be just an urban legend and she didn’t want to take the chance, but it also wouldn’t surprise me if it’s true.

Maybe the ground burials will become more common now.

 

[Ecoman1949]

I saw this video many months. Bóvedas better than some people's houses in a cemetery in Culiacan, Mexico.

Wow! Both awesome and bizarre. I heard of one lady in the US that wanted to be buried in her Ferrari. Apparently her wishes were accommodated. My mother, a staunch Catholic, wanted to be buried whole until the Pope gave his blessing to cremation. His only requirement was that the ashes be treated with respect and buried in a cemetery. No leaving them on the shelf indefinitely. No spreading of the ashes in strange places. That sort of thing. After that my mother was comfortable with cremation. I’ve attended DR funerals and visited some of the cemeteries in the campo towns. Many of them are in rough shape but the poor do what they can for their loved ones.