Mar 13, 2008

Jewelry for ashes will be at expo

It's certainly more elegant than keeping Grandpa in a cardboard box.


Instead, his remains can be encased in wearable baubles of silver and gold.


Cremation jewelry looks conventional but lets survivors carry some of their loved ones' ashes -- called cremains -- everywhere. It's a popular idea in Michigan, which has become a leader in cremations, local funeral-industry officials said.


Cremation jewelry will be on display today by Wm. Sullivan & Son Funeral Home at the South Oakland Business Expo, a one-day exhibit of business products and services.


Among the pieces is a cuff-style bracelet -- about $200 in sterling silver -- which holds ashes inside two small capsules, one built into each end of the bracelet. Each capsule is capped by a jewel of the buyer's choice, said Marilyn Hill, a pre-arrangement counselor at Wm. Sullivan & Son Funeral Home in Royal Oak. To remember two people, "You might want to use their birthstones," Hill said.


The business expo will feature about 100 retail and service firms from 1 to 6 p.m. at the Royal Oak Farmers Market, 316 E. Eleven Mile.


The expo combines chamber of commerce members from six cities -- Berkley, Clawson, Ferndale, Hazel Park, Madison Heights and Royal Oak. Admission is $5 but free with online coupons at http://www.royaloakchamber.com/.


Visitors will see displays of fitness clubs, a tea shop and one by state Sen. John Pappageorge, R-Troy.


Darlene Hunt, 41, of Clinton Township said she wears some of her deceased husband's ashes in a silver necklace, like the kind Wm. Sullivan & Son Funeral Home and other funeral homes in metro Detroit display.


Wearing the necklace "gives me some comfort, knowing that he's with me all the time," she said.


She even put some ashes in a pendant attached to the collar of the family dog.
Source: freep

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