Events

Guest Lecturer: End-of-Life Words

Susan will be a guest lecturer on  June 1st for the Department of Psychology, Clark College, Vancouver, WA.

“End-of-Life Words”

Death Talk Goes to the Movies

These films are not offered to promote a particular point of view and are not Death Cafes. They are a chance to look at how filmmakers are approaching the topic of death and to discuss that approach with others.

2016 Schedule of Films & Guest Speakers (subject to change)

Natural Burial, Family-Directed Funerals & Rituals of Remembrance: 3 workshops, a film, conversation, site tours & lunch

Natural Burial, Family-Directed Funerals & Rituals of Remembrance: 3 workshops, a film, conversation, site tours & lunchfall grave with mandala

A day of learning & conversation to honor Earth Day – in Portland on April 9 & the Columbia Gorge on April 29-30

Attend all or part of our day-long program in either location:

Registration
  • Register for the April 9th Portland symposium
  • Register for the April 29-30 Columbia Gorge symposium
  • Space is limited and advance registration is strongly advised! Reserve your spot today for a low registration fee of $15
  • Purchase lunch in advance for an additional $10 (optional) or bring a sack lunch
  • Advance registration closes April 6 for the April 9 symposium in Portland and April 27 for the April 30 symposium in the Columbia River Gorge
  • Availability of walk-in registration will be posted after advance registration closes
  • Carpooling can be arranged for registrants for the April 30 symposium in the Columbia River from the Portland metro or Hood River areas
Symposium Schedule: April 9 at River View Cemetery in Portland
  • 8:30am Registration & Coffee
  • 9:00am Symposium Welcome & Workshop #1: Natural Burial: Why, How, Where – led by David Noble, Executive Director of River View Cemetery
  • 10:45am Workshop #2: Creating a Death Plan & Planning for a Natural Burial – led by Jodie Buller, Cemetery Manager for White Eagle Memorial Preserve
  • 12:00 Cemetery Tour & Box Lunch (advance purchase or bring your own)
  • 1:30pm Workshop #3: Home Funerals, DIY Memorials & Other Rituals of Remembrance – led by Holly Pruett, Life-Cycle Celebrant & Home Funeral Guide
  • 3:00pm A Will for the Woods film screening with discussion
  • 5:00pm Symposium Closing
  • Register for the April 9th Portland symposium
Symposium Schedule: April 29-30 in Hood River & Goldendale
Friday, April 29
Saturday, April 30
  • 8:30am Registration & Coffee at the Hood River Library
  • 9:00am Symposium Welcome & Workshop #1: Natural Burial: Why, How, Where – led by David Noble, Executive Director of River View Cemetery
  • 10:45am Workshop #2: Home Funerals, DIY Memorials & Other Rituals of Remembrance – led by Holly Pruett, Life-Cycle Celebrant & Home Funeral Guide
  • 12:00 Drive to White Eagle Memorial Preserve, Goldendale, WA
  • 1:30pm Tour of White Eagle Memorial Preserve & lunch (advance purchase or bring your own)
  • 3:30pm Workshop #3: Creating a Death Plan & Planning for a Natural Burial – led by Jodie Buller, Cemetery Manager for White Eagle Memorial Preserve
  • 5:00pm Symposium Closing, departure from White Eagle
  • Register for the April 29-30 Columbia Gorge symposium
Workshop Descriptions

Natural Burial: Why, How, Where – led by David Noble, Executive Director of River View Cemetery, with Jodie Buller of White Eagle Memorial Preserve (presenter bios below). Natural burial (also known as green burial) is a simple, meaningful, and environmentally-friendly method of disposition, which allows individuals to practice their ecological values during and after death. Learn:

  • What natural burial is, how it works, its human and ecological benefits
  • Why natural burial is an increasingly popular choice in the Pacific Northwest
  • How natural burial lends itself to crafting relevant and meaningful end of life rituals
  • The unique urban and rural options provided by two Green Burial Council-certified non-profit cemeteries in the region: historic River View Cemetery in the heart of Portland and White Eagle Memorial Preserve in the Columbia River Gorge

Home Funerals, DIY Memorials & Other Rituals of Remembrance – led by Holly Pruett, Life-Cycle Celebrant & Home Funeral Guide (presenter bio below). We care for our loved ones in life. How can we be more involved in caring for their bodies after death, and make an ongoing place in our lives for our beloved dead through rituals of mourning, memorialization, and remembrance? Learn:

  • The history of family-directed death care
  • Legal and practical considerations for home care of our deceased loved ones
  • How a supportive funeral home can support family-directed death care
  • Inspirational examples of “Do it Yourself” (DIY) home vigils, memorials, and other rituals of remembrance
  • A case study of one family’s home vigil, natural burial, DIY memorial, and remembrance rituals

Creating a Death Plan & Planning for a Natural Burial – led by Jodie Buller, Cemetery Manager for White Eagle Memorial Preserve (presenter bio below). Expectant parents are encouraged to think through delivery scenarios and develop a birth plan. Creating a death plan involves facing the fact of your mortality and thinking through the setting in which you’d like to die, how your body will be cared for after death, disposition of your body, and how you’d like to be memorialized. Learn:

  • The advantages of creating a plan and communicating it with others
  • The pros and cons of paying in advance
  • A basic framework for thinking through your plan
  • Special considerations if interested in planning for a natural burial
  • How to work with a funeral home, cemetery, or crematorium to ensure your family is as hands-on as you want to be
Sponsored & Presented by

Presented as a community service by the non-profit burial grounds River View Cemetery &White Eagle Memorial Preserve in partnership with Holly Pruett, Life-Cycle Celebrant and Home Funeral Guide, with support from Passages International and the Hood River Library’s Grave Matters discussion series.

  • David Noble, Executive Director of River View Cemetery ~ David Noble has been serving Oregon families for 43 years as a funeral director, embalmer, cemetery owner, and currently, as Executive Director of River View Cemetery in Portland.  Five years ago, River View began offering the option of burial without embalming, without an outer burial container, or even without a casket, throughout the entire cemetery. Natural burial now constitutes over 25% of River View’s burials.  David is an avid supporter of green burials, as well as home funerals, and has made presentations on the merits of green burial at numerous national and local conventions of funeral directors and cemetery owners/operators.
  • Jodie Buller, Cemetery Manager for White Eagle Memorial Preserve ~ Jodie Buller is the Cemetery Manager at White Eagle Memorial Preserve at Ekone Ranch, a Conservation Burial Ground outside Goldendale, WA. White Eagle works with funeral homes and with families directly, to offer meaningful burials in 20 acres of ponderosa and oak forest wilderness. Jodie walks people through the process of deciding their own end of life plans, and handling the logistics involved in burying loved ones. She is a celebrant and hosts burial receptions at the White Eagle cabin in the Ekone Ranch valley.
  • Holly Pruett, Life-Cycle Celebrant & Home Funeral Guide ~ A Life-Cycle Celebrant and Home Funeral Guide, Holly works with individuals, families, and communities to create unique, personalized ceremonies from cradle to grave. As a community conversation leader, Holly has organized PDX Death Café (the largest in the world) since 2013, and was the driving force behind the 500-person conference Death:OK (Let’s Talk About It). The Natural Death Care Symposium marks the launch of her latest community education offering, theDeath Talk Project.

Register for the April 9th Portland symposium

Register for the April 29-30 Columbia Gorge symposium

Download a flier
1 2