Oak Ridge Cemetery has varied choices

OAK RIDGE. Since the early 1800s, the cemetery on Oak Drive off Oak Ridge Road has been a final resting place for local residents.

Today, the Oak Ridge Cemetery is a nondenominational burial ground, operated by the Oak Ridge Cemetery Association, a nonprofit organization.

To keep up with changing burial customs, it now offers individual gravesites, family plots and columbarium niches for cremains, the remains of people who were cremated.

A section of the cemetery has been designated as a place to honor all people who have served in the military, all who are serving now and those who will serve in the future. Flags from all service branches and American flags fly there.

This tribute was designed by James and Joan DeYoung to honor their son and all others who served or will serve in the military. Their son Steve is buried in a traditional grave there. A military flag program was part of his funeral.

Families of those who chose cremation may select a niche for them in one of the newly installed columbariums in a new section of the cemetery.

An area has been landscaped with benches for those who want to sit and meditate.

Traditional burials also continue to take place at the cemetery.

A generation ago, cremation and columbarium were words not often heard in some area churches. COVID-19 is one of the reasons this changed.

During the pandemic, deaths increased significantly worldwide. Nearly 225,000 Americans have died since the start of 2020. An average of 350 deaths related to the virus are each day in the United States, according to published reports.

The National Funeral Directors Association’s 2022 Cremation and Burial Report attributes the rising selection of cremation to cost, environmental concerns, an increasing transient population, fewer religious prohibitions against the practice and changing consumer preferences, such as desires for less ritualized funeral ceremonies.

In addition, cremation has become socially acceptable as more Americans think and talk about death in new ways, the report said.

The use of cremation is expected to increase. The annual rise in cremations has averaged about 1.5 percent a year in most states.

The number of cremations in the U.S. is expected to rise from 1.91 million in 2022 to 2.26 million by 2030 and 2.94 million by 2040, which would be nearly 80 percent of all U.S. deaths..

In 2010, there were 1 million cremations.

Early traditions

The Oak Ridge Cemetery traces its origin to William Weaver, who according to an 1820 deed, purchased land for $100 that would become the burying ground for the Oak Ridge Presbyterian Church. He died in 1831 at age 88 and is buried at the left rear corner of the church.

Other local churches also had cemeteries and some families had private cemeteries on their land.

Sometimes “wakes” lasting days were held in homes of the deceased. Some farmhouses had a special “parlor” that was used only for weddings and funerals. Food prepared by family and friends was served on special heirloom dishes.

These traditions were observed in many North Jersey homes in the 1800s and as late as the 1940s, with some modifications beginning in the early 1950s.

Initially there was a group of women in the community who came to the house to help with preparation of the corpse for viewing. Later an “undertaker” and still later a “funeral director” took on those responsibilities with the dead having funeral home visitation. While the body was still in the house people took turns sitting with it through the night – “the wake.” A procession would take the dead from home to a cemetery.

Thoughts and beliefs about funerals have changed greatly since those days. Many religions that did not allow cremation now encourage it because of environmental and cost concerns along with the growing shortage of adequate space for burial grounds.

Immigrants bring their cultures with them, and Buddhism is one of the world religions that encourage cremation. The founder of Buddhism, Gautama Budda, was cremated on a funeral pyre, and many choose to follow his example through cremation.

Hinduism also strongly encourages cremation. Beliefs of Hinduism are that cremation not only helps with the disposal of physical remains but helps take the soul of the deceased into the hereafter for reincarnation/rebirth.

Although the Roman Catholic Church previously did not support cremation, it is now acceptable for Catholics to be cremated.

The Oak Ridge Cemetery Association provides private consultations at no cost or obligation.

For information, contact cemetery director Richard Schipper at 973-897-1237 or the Oak Ridge Presbyterian Church office at 973-697-7775.