# The Natural Funeral — full text

The readable text of every page on this site, markup removed, one
section per page. Generated at build time from the published pages,
so it cannot drift from what the site actually says.

Source: https://www.thenaturalfuneral.com
Pages: 48
Generated: 2026-11-03

The short outline version of this file is at /llms.txt


---

# https://www.thenaturalfuneral.com

Your home for a more natural goodbye.
Terramation, water cremation, natural burial, and every gentle option in between,
guided with warmth and no pressure by people who have time for you.
I have an immediate need I'm planning ahead
I'm a funeral professional
Locations in Lafayette and Loveland · Funeral services for the Front Range
Call us day or night:
(720) 515-2344
Start where you are.
Thinking ahead
Plan at your own pace
Settle your wishes now, in your own words, so the people you love are spared the guesswork. No rush, nothing to sign today.
Planning ahead → An immediate need
We can help right now
Call any hour. We will listen first, explain what happens next, and bring your loved one into our care with tenderness.
Immediate need → Exploring options
A more natural goodbye
Terramation, water cremation, natural burial, and more, explained in plain, human terms so you can choose what fits.
Explore services →
Every natural goodbye, here in your community.
We are the only funeral home in Colorado where a family can choose any
earth-honoring goodbye, whether terramation, water cremation, natural burial, or
flame cremation, in person, in one warm conversation. Every form of
disposition happens here in your community, close to the people who
love your person.
Terramation
Gentle transformation into Regenerative Living Soil™, the first and only provider in Colorado.
Water Cremation
A gentler, flameless alternative, first offered in Colorado by The Natural Funeral.
Natural Burial
A simple, natural return to the earth, with no embalming and no vault.
Flame Cremation
The conventional option, offered with reverence and care.
Clear pricing for every option is available on
our pricing page. For personal guidance, call us anytime at (720) 515-2344 .
What is terramation?
A gentle, natural process that transforms a body into living soil over a
few weeks, the same quiet renewal that has restored forests for millennia.
Our short film shows how it works, and the care behind every step.
Learn about terramation
What is terramation?
In their families' words.
“The Natural Funeral made my experience planning and attending a funeral the least stressful it could be. The intimate service was suited for our needs and compassion of the staff was overwhelming. Thank you, The Natural Funeral.”
Al , 2023 “My father recently passed away and had requested that we use The Natural Funeral for his cremation. We were extremely grateful for the kindness and the efficiency of Jane and Gretchen in taking care of some of the many details that have to be handled after a loved one passes. Highly recommended.”
Karl , 2023 “Words fail me when I think of how incredible The Natural Funeral team is. They facilitated one of the most healing experiences of my life when my mom died. I can't recommend them enough for the services they provide. I am forever grateful.”
Charlotte , 2023 “The Natural Funeral is a place of exquisite personalized care. Through deep listening and attentiveness, they were able to provide us with just what we needed; both at the exact right time and throughout the entire experience. In my opinion, they are number one on the Front Range.”
Kristin , 2021 “This place was incredibly comforting during the most difficult time of our lives. Jane Anderson was truly an angel helping guide us through the hardest decisions we've ever had to make. I highly recommend!”
Mark , 2021 “This is the way for your final event. Dying and living need not be separate - they are both important and spiritual parts of this game. The Natural Funeral celebrates life, doesn't hurry death, and makes sure love, acceptance, and grief is all welcome.”
Kate , 2020 “This company was amazing to work with. Made us feel very comfortable and really compassionate. They just really go the extra mile to honor what you want and just sending little things meant so much.”
Debbie , 2020 “The Natural Funeral and everyone there showed us kindness and compassion and grace in the most devastating situation. Being able to honor our loved one in this setting with holistic, natural care means more than I can adequately express. I will be forever grateful for The Natural Funeral.”
Gretchen , 2020 “Unexpected deaths are very traumatic and difficult to understand and to deal with. Karen and the staff at The Natural Funeral guided us through the process with kindness, caring and love. I highly recommend them.”
Wendy , 2019 “These are incredibly kind, compassionate and supportive people. Nothing but love towards the way they supported us through the hardest journey we have ever been on.”
Mya , 2019 “The Natural Funeral was amazing. I am so impressed by their customer service. Everyone was kind, organized, and efficient. Follow through and follow up were exceptional. Cannot recommend more highly.”
Joanna , 2018
1 / 11
From Google reviews of The Natural Funeral.
Whenever you're ready, we're here.
No pressure, no obligation, just a real person, who will listen first.
Call us day or night:
(720) 515-2344
OR
Send us a message

---

# https://www.thenaturalfuneral.com/about

Pioneers, because families deserved a choice.
We opened in Old Town Lafayette in 2019 with a simple conviction: a
goodbye should honor the person and the earth. Since then we became the
first funeral home in Colorado to offer water cremation, helped lead
the 2021 effort that made terramation legal, and remain the only
funeral home in the state where a family can choose any natural
goodbye here in their own community.
Get to know us.
Our Values
Compassion, choice, stewardship, beauty, and transparency, and what each one asks of us every day.
Learn more → Our Locations
Funeral homes in Lafayette and Loveland, and our Care Center in Arvada, where terramation and water cremation take place.
Learn more → Talk With Us
A real person, any hour. Questions welcome, no obligation ever.
Learn more →
In their families' words.
“The Natural Funeral made my experience planning and attending a funeral the least stressful it could be. The intimate service was suited for our needs and compassion of the staff was overwhelming. Thank you, The Natural Funeral.”
Al , 2023 “My father recently passed away and had requested that we use The Natural Funeral for his cremation. We were extremely grateful for the kindness and the efficiency of Jane and Gretchen in taking care of some of the many details that have to be handled after a loved one passes. Highly recommended.”
Karl , 2023 “Words fail me when I think of how incredible The Natural Funeral team is. They facilitated one of the most healing experiences of my life when my mom died. I can't recommend them enough for the services they provide. I am forever grateful.”
Charlotte , 2023 “The Natural Funeral is a place of exquisite personalized care. Through deep listening and attentiveness, they were able to provide us with just what we needed; both at the exact right time and throughout the entire experience. In my opinion, they are number one on the Front Range.”
Kristin , 2021 “This place was incredibly comforting during the most difficult time of our lives. Jane Anderson was truly an angel helping guide us through the hardest decisions we've ever had to make. I highly recommend!”
Mark , 2021 “This is the way for your final event. Dying and living need not be separate - they are both important and spiritual parts of this game. The Natural Funeral celebrates life, doesn't hurry death, and makes sure love, acceptance, and grief is all welcome.”
Kate , 2020 “This company was amazing to work with. Made us feel very comfortable and really compassionate. They just really go the extra mile to honor what you want and just sending little things meant so much.”
Debbie , 2020 “The Natural Funeral and everyone there showed us kindness and compassion and grace in the most devastating situation. Being able to honor our loved one in this setting with holistic, natural care means more than I can adequately express. I will be forever grateful for The Natural Funeral.”
Gretchen , 2020 “Unexpected deaths are very traumatic and difficult to understand and to deal with. Karen and the staff at The Natural Funeral guided us through the process with kindness, caring and love. I highly recommend them.”
Wendy , 2019 “These are incredibly kind, compassionate and supportive people. Nothing but love towards the way they supported us through the hardest journey we have ever been on.”
Mya , 2019 “The Natural Funeral was amazing. I am so impressed by their customer service. Everyone was kind, organized, and efficient. Follow through and follow up were exceptional. Cannot recommend more highly.”
Joanna , 2018
1 / 11
From Google reviews of The Natural Funeral.
Still have questions for us?
We're always glad to talk, no obligation ever.
Call us day or night:
(720) 515-2344
OR
Send us a message

---

# https://www.thenaturalfuneral.com/about/locations

Our locations
Real places, with real people inside.
Families often tell us the moment things felt lighter was the moment
they walked in. Both funeral homes are yours to visit, and our Care
Center welcomes you on scheduled tours, because we believe nothing
about our work should be hidden.
Our care travels, too. A vigil at home, a service at your church, a
gathering in a place that mattered to your person: we come to you, and
the ceremony happens wherever your family gathers.
Lafayette Funeral Home
102 W Chester St, Lafayette, CO 80026
Where it all began, in Old Town Lafayette. Arrangement rooms that
feel like a living room, space for vigils and gatherings, and tea
always on.
(720) 515-2344 · Directions →
Terramation, planned here: for Lafayette families ·
for Boulder families
Loveland Funeral Home
1440 N Boise Ave, Loveland, CO 80538
Serving Loveland, Fort Collins, and all of Northern Colorado with
the same unhurried, heart-centered care. Open by appointment.
(720) 515-2344 · Directions →
The Care Center
6065 W 55th Pl, Arvada, CO 80002
Our Arvada Care Center is the working heart of what we do: it is where
terramation and water cremation actually happen. It is a care
facility rather than a funeral home, and we open it to families and
the community through scheduled tours, because seeing it is the
surest way to feel at peace with it.
Ask about a tour
Whenever you're ready, we're here.
No pressure, no obligation, just a real person, any hour, who will listen first.
Call (720) 515-2344 Send us a message

---

# https://www.thenaturalfuneral.com/about/press

Press and media
What others have written about us.
Colorado legalized terramation in 2021, and we were the first funeral
home in the state to offer it. Reporters have been following the work
since. Here is a selection of that coverage, each piece linked to its
original source so you can read it in full.
Inside Climate News 2026 “A Growing Movement Looks to Decarbonize Death” On water cremation and terramation as lower-emission alternatives, and how limited access to them still is. By Emily Payne
Colorado Public Radio 2024 “Colorado funeral homes are working to regain trust amid string of high-profile scandals” Seth Viddal walks CPR through terramation, and through why transparency matters so much in Colorado right now. By Paolo Zialcita
Denver Westword 2022 “The Natural Funeral Marks a Year of Legal Body Composting” A look back at our first year, the Chrysalis™ vessel, and the families who chose it early. By Catie Cheshire
U.S. News & World Report 2021 “How Death Is Going ‘Green’ With Human Composting” National coverage of Colorado’s new law, reported from our Lafayette funeral home. By Kaia Hubbard
The Colorado Sun 2021 “Body composting, recently approved by Colorado lawmakers, is a “green” alternative to burial and cremation” The Associated Press story that introduced most of Colorado to terramation, carried statewide. By The Associated Press
For journalists
We are glad to talk with reporters, students, and researchers, and we
can arrange a walk-through of the Care Center where terramation and
water cremation actually happen. Reach us through our
contact page and tell us what you are working
on.
If you would rather see it for yourself first, our
Care Center tours are open to
anyone, free, once a month.

---

# https://www.thenaturalfuneral.com/about/team

Our team
The people who will be with you.
When families tell us afterward what mattered most, they almost never
name a service. They name a person. These are the funeral directors,
planners, celebrants, and care center staff who will sit with you,
answer plainly, and carry out Reverent Body Care® with their own
hands.
Mike Reagan
Chief Executive Officer
Mike first worked in end-of-life care as a teenager, apprenticing at a family-owned funeral home in Massachusetts. Three decades in executive leadership followed, and in 2017 he returned to direct service as a hospice volunteer and end-of-life doula. He leads The Natural Funeral toward a future where every family has a dignified, ecological choice.
Seth Viddal
Co-owner and Chief Operating Officer
Seth came to this work after losing his father, brother, and mother within four years, and finding that conventional practices did not reflect his family’s values. He joined The Natural Funeral in 2019, bringing a background in business, construction, and his studies in contemplative psychology, religion, and mindfulness.
Dan Ziskin
Co-owner and Chief Scientist
A co-founder of The Natural Funeral, Dan spent his earlier career at NOAA, NASA, and the National Center for Atmospheric Research. He leads the research and development behind our terramation and water cremation work, holding every process to the environmental standard that brought him here.
Vicki Viddal
Co-owner and Family Support Specialist
Vicki has walked with families through their hardest moments for more than twenty years, and has supported hundreds of them since we opened in March 2019. Her care does not end at the service. It reaches into the days, weeks, and months that follow, which is when many families need it most.
Austin Timpson
Funeral Home General Manager and Funeral Director
Austin oversees our funeral home operations and holds a B.S. in Environmental and Sustainability Studies. He serves with the Green Burial Council, helping shape the standards the whole industry is measured against, and brings a heart-centered approach to every family he meets.
Carla Torres
Ambassador
Carla walks alongside families through every step, from the first arrangement meeting to viewings and Reverent Body Care, with a calm, steady presence. A trained death doula and certified funeral celebrant, she joined The Natural Funeral in 2023 and is pursuing her funeral director licensure through Arapahoe Community College.
Arionna Timpson
Holistic Office Administrator
Arionna’s interest in funeral service began in childhood, on learning that her great-grandparents once ran a funeral home. She and her husband Austin later operated one together in Heber, Utah. She now guides Colorado families toward earth-friendly options that match their values, and she fosters dogs and bakes bread besides.
Gretchen Ford
Executive Administrator
Gretchen is our Executive Administrator, keeping the organization running behind the scenes so the rest of the team can be with the families in our care.
Karis Meskimen
Advance Planning Consultant
Karis guides individuals and families through planning ahead, drawing on years of work in senior living communities. We think of advance planning as an act of love, and Karis is unhurried about it, shaping each plan around what a person actually believes, whether that is ecological, religious, cultural, or all three.
Jen Nenoff
Continuing Care and Advance Planning Specialist
Jen grew up in the New Mexico desert, where she learned a deep respect for the land and for conservation. She joined The Natural Funeral in 2026 and guides families through grief and planning with warmth, kindness, and honesty. She believes everyone who walks through our doors deserves respect and understanding, and she aims to be a steady presence through the complexity of grief. Outside of The Natural Funeral, Jen is active in the vibrant Denver music community and loves spending time with her three beloved cats, Axel, Boop, and Carl.
Jenna Wheatley
Care Center Supervisor
Jenna makes sure every step of our terramation and water cremation care is carried out with reverence and precision. After fifteen years in the tourism industry she trained as a death doula through the Conscious Dying Collective. She holds a Master of Arts from USC and a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Maryland.
Ragen Hale
Cremation Technician
Ragen approaches every terramation and water cremation with compassion, respect, and a genuine commitment to honoring each individual entrusted to our care. After eight years in the restaurant industry, Ragen felt called to pursue a more meaningful career where he could make a lasting difference in the lives of others. This passion led him to The Natural Funeral. Ragen holds certifications as both a Natural Organic Reductionist and Cremationist and is licensed through DORA.
John Knaus
Fabrication Specialist
John is our Fabrication Specialist, the hands behind the vessels and equipment that make the care we offer possible.
Susan Nemcek
Celebrant
Susan is an ordained interfaith chaplain and the founder of Willow Farm Contemplative Center in Hygiene, Colorado, where she hosts meditation retreats and celebrations of life. In private practice as a homeopath and social work clinician, she works closely with grief, loss, and trauma.
Ben Martin
Celebrant
Ben is a Certified Life-Cycle Celebrant through the Celebrant Foundation and Institute, and has written for thirty-seven years. He crafts ceremonies for every part of the life cycle, from baby namings to funerals, and is the author of the collection Prayers on the Road Home.
Nicole Matarazzo
Celebrant and Death Midwife
Nicole came to this work through her years as a Child Life Specialist, caring for children living with cancer and AIDS. She founded End of Life Pathways in 2016 and is a certified death midwife. Families describe her presence as steadying at a time when very little else feels steady.
Annalouiza Armendariz
Celebrant and Interfaith Chaplain
Annalouiza brings herbalism, traditional healing practices from Mexico and Central America, Reiki, and spiritual coaching to her work as a celebrant. Fluent in Spanish and English, she also serves as an advance care directive planner, and she accompanies families without asking them to hold any particular doctrine.
Also on staff
Queenie
Holistic Funeral Support Dog
Queenie is the smallest member of our team and packs a great deal of
heart into a very small body. She is always available for a visit, and
more than one family has told us she was exactly what the room needed.
Want to meet us before you need us?
Come to a Care Center tour, or simply call and ask for whoever is here. We would be glad to know you.
Call (720) 515-2344 Send us a message

---

# https://www.thenaturalfuneral.com/about/values

Our values
What we practice, not just what we say.
These five values are how we make decisions, hire, and care for
families. Each carries a discipline we hold ourselves to, and you are
always welcome to hold us to them too.
Compassion
Heart-centered, no-pressure care. We treat every family the way we would want our own treated, and we listen before anything else.
Choice
The family decides, always. We offer real options, explain them plainly, and honor whatever you choose, without ever steering.
Stewardship
Reverence for the earth. Every service we offer is measured against a simple question: does this give back more than it takes?
Beauty
A goodbye should be beautiful, in its setting, its ceremony, and its smallest details. Never clinical, never rushed, never generic.
Transparency
Open pricing, open process, open doors. We put our principles in writing and welcome every question about them.
Everyone means everyone
We serve every family: of every faith and of none, every culture, every
identity, and every kind of love. Your person will be honored here as
exactly who they were.
Our funeral homes stand on the ancestral lands of the Hinóno'éí
(Arapaho), Cheyenne, and Ute peoples, and we say so with respect.
Whenever you're ready, we're here.
No pressure, no obligation, just a real person, any hour, who will listen first.
Call (720) 515-2344 Send us a message

---

# https://www.thenaturalfuneral.com/accessibility

Accessibility
A site everyone can use.
Last updated July 28, 2026
Our commitment
Care that excludes anyone is not care. We build and maintain this site
to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1, Level AA:
readable color contrast, full keyboard navigation, descriptive
alternative text for images, honest headings, and motion that respects
your system's reduced-motion setting.
If you meet a barrier
If any part of this site is hard for you to use, we genuinely want to
know, and we will fix it. Send us a message or
call (720) 515-2344 and tell us what you
ran into. And if the site is ever in your way, everything it does can
also be done by phone, with a real person, at any hour.

---

# https://www.thenaturalfuneral.com/blog

Blog
Things worth saying out loud.
Short pieces on the choices families face, written the way we would
talk them through in person. Read whatever helps, skip whatever
doesn't, and call us if a question is still sitting with you.
July 27, 2026
Which Cremation Options Feel Right for Your Family
Comparing cremation options? Start with your family's values. Questions to guide you, how water and standard cremation compare, and where ceremony fits.
Read →
July 20, 2026
What Makes Reverent Body Care So Unique
Intention is what sets Reverent Body Care® apart. See how unhurried care, natural products, and a family's presence turn preparation into a quiet ritual.
Read →
July 13, 2026
How Water Cremation Supports Mindful Goodbyes Today
Mindful goodbyes come from clarity, not pressure. How water cremation leaves room for ritual, small personal choices, and the questions families often ask.
Read →
July 6, 2026
Terramation Services for a Gentle Return to the Earth
What makes terramation feel gentle? How this natural return to soil leaves room for vigils, rituals, and personal touches, and how planning ahead helps.
Read →
June 22, 2026
Planning a Cremation That Honors Your Family Values
When cremation planning starts with your values, the details follow. Questions to ask together, ways to add ceremony, and how to keep each step unhurried.
Read →
June 15, 2026
Returning to Nature with a Thoughtful Green Burial
Green burial lets simplicity make room for memory. What it involves, the natural materials used, how to personalize the day, and how a ceremony fits in.
Read →
June 8, 2026
Water Cremation for Families Seeking a Simple Farewell
A simple farewell is not a lesser one. Where to begin, how to keep it personal, and answers to common questions when your family chooses water cremation.
Read →
June 1, 2026
How Terramation Turns Farewell into Flourishing New Growth
A gentle walk through terramation: the questions to ask before care begins, how the transformation is tended, and why many families find hope in it.
Read →
May 25, 2026
Protecting Loved Ones Through Preneed Cremation Care
Preneed cremation planning spares your family from guessing. Which choices matter, what to write down, and how sharing your wishes protects family peace.
Read →
May 18, 2026
Embracing Earth with a Green Burial Journey
Green burial is a gentle return to the soil. What sets it apart, why the setting matters, and small touches, like a shroud or music, that make it your own.
Read →
May 11, 2026
When Families Choose a Gentle Water Goodbye
Grief already asks so much of you. What happens during water cremation, and the music, keepsakes and quiet moments families weave around a gentle goodbye.
Read →
May 4, 2026
Planting Hope with a Terramation Guided Farewell Today
Terramation returns your loved one to the earth as living soil. What the process involves, how families take part, and why early conversations help.
Read →
← Newer 1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
Older →
Some questions are better answered by a person
Call any hour, or send a note. We listen first, and we never rush you.
Call (720) 515-2344 Send us a message

---

# https://www.thenaturalfuneral.com/blog/page/2

Blog
Things worth saying out loud.
Page 2 of 9.
April 13, 2026
Why Families Choose a Peaceful Water Farewell Today
A peaceful water farewell is calm, private and dignified. How water cremation works in plain terms, how faith and family rituals fit, and questions to ask.
Read →
April 6, 2026
Choosing Terramation for an Earth Honoring Farewell Now
What happens during terramation, why it suits a life of stewardship, how a memorial fits in, and the questions worth asking before you choose it.
Read →
March 23, 2026
Four Meaningful Ways to Personalize Loved One’s Cremation
Four ways to personalize a cremation: a keepsake that holds real memory, music for key moments, a gathering that fits, and gentle ways for guests to join.
Read →
March 16, 2026
Celebrating Life with Heartfelt Meaning and Joy
Joy in grief is not about forced smiles. Ideas for a celebration of life that feels like your person, from music and photos to stories and a celebrant.
Read →
March 9, 2026
Gentle Path with Modern Water Cremation for Families
New to water cremation? Here is what actually happens, how to make the farewell personal, how to talk about it with relatives, and what to ask a provider.
Read →
March 2, 2026
How Terramation Turns Goodbye into Hopeful New Growth
Terramation in plain language: how the process is carefully monitored, what families can personalize, and how to tell if it fits your family's values.
Read →
February 23, 2026
Uplifting 5 Ways to Pair Cremation with Ceremony
Cremation need not mean giving up ceremony. Five gentle ideas, from a candlelit gathering at home to a garden memorial, for a goodbye that feels like them.
Read →
February 16, 2026
Reverent Body Care Honors Dignity and Grace
Reverent Body Care® is a gentle ritual of washing, anointing, and dressing your loved one. How families can take part, and why it can ease early grief.
Read →
February 9, 2026
How Water Cremation Supports Earth and Family Values
Honor your loved one and the earth together. A calm look at the quiet, careful water cremation process and the gatherings families shape around it.
Read →
February 2, 2026
Finding Comfort in Nature Through Terramation Care Now
A plain look at terramation, why a farewell rooted in nature can feel calming, ways to stay close during the process, and how the soil feeds new life.
Read →
January 26, 2026
6 Meaningful Ways to Pair Cremation with a Ceremony Today
Six gentle ideas for pairing cremation with a ceremony, from a candlelit gathering at home to music or nature, plus ways to include family and faith.
Read →
January 19, 2026
How Green Burial Creates A Peaceful Return To Nature
Green burial, simply put: a shroud or plain casket, no concrete vault, and a resting place that returns to meadow. Ways to personalize it and plan ahead.
Read →
← Newer 1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
Older →
Some questions are better answered by a person
Call any hour, or send a note. We listen first, and we never rush you.
Call (720) 515-2344 Send us a message

---

# https://www.thenaturalfuneral.com/blog/page/3

Blog
Things worth saying out loud.
Page 3 of 9.
January 12, 2026
Water Cremation for a Soft Earth-Friendly Farewell
Why water cremation feels calm to many families, how it treads lightly on the earth, and a few questions about your values to help you decide if it fits.
Read →
December 22, 2025
Personalized Funeral Plans For Future Peace
Planning ahead is a quiet gift to your family. What a personal plan can hold, from ceremony wishes to a single file, and how to start the conversation.
Read →
December 15, 2025
Why Families Are Embracing Gentle Natural Burial Today
What natural burial is, why families are drawn to its simplicity, and how to plan a ceremony with readings, rituals and traditions that feel like your own.
Read →
December 8, 2025
5 Benefits Of Preplanning A Water Cremation Service Today
Planning a water cremation ahead puts your wishes in writing, eases the weight on your family, and leaves room for a remembrance that feels like you.
Read →
December 1, 2025
Creating Meaning With A Terramation Ceremony Together
Ideas for a terramation ceremony everyone can share in, from readings and flowers to simple roles for children and elders, all kept calm and unhurried.
Read →
November 24, 2025
8 Questions to Ask When Arranging Compassionate Cremation
Eight questions to ask when arranging cremation: how it treats the earth, how your loved one is cared for, time together, ceremony, and support afterward.
Read →
November 17, 2025
Planning a Burial That Nourishes the Living Earth Today
What is a green burial, and how does it give back? A gentle look at shrouds, Reverent Body Care®, home vigils, and burial grounds that nourish the land.
Read →
November 10, 2025
What Makes Water Cremation a Gentle Green Choice
Water cremation trades flame for warm water. Learn why families see it as a green choice, and the vigils, ceremonies and keepsakes that can follow it.
Read →
November 3, 2025
A Holistic End-of-Life Option with Terramation
Terramation returns your loved one to the earth as living soil. How the process works, the rituals families add, and the legacy that soil can grow into.
Read →
September 22, 2025
Healing Hearts Through 5 Memorial Connection
Five ways to stay close to your person after a loss: small rituals, time in nature, creative tributes, shared stories and ceremonies that feel like them.
Read →
September 15, 2025
What is Reverent Body Care and Why it Matters Today?
Reverent Body Care® is the gentle, unhurried tending of your loved one after death: washing, anointing and quiet ritual, with family welcome to take part.
Read →
September 8, 2025
Choosing a Peaceful Water-Based Farewell
Water cremation offers a gentle, earth-minded goodbye. What it is, why families are drawn to it, and how vigils, readings and music make it personal.
Read →
← Newer 1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
Older →
Some questions are better answered by a person
Call any hour, or send a note. We listen first, and we never rush you.
Call (720) 515-2344 Send us a message

---

# https://www.thenaturalfuneral.com/blog/page/4

Blog
Things worth saying out loud.
Page 4 of 9.
September 1, 2025
When Life Continues Through Soil Regeneration
Through terramation, a life can return to the earth as living soil that feeds trees and gardens. The process, the values behind it, and its rituals.
Read →
August 25, 2025
Healing Moments Shared in Candlelit Vigil
A candlelit vigil offers quiet comfort after a loss. Simple ways to make one personal: letters read aloud, soft music, written notes and a memory table.
Read →
August 18, 2025
6 Reasons Why a Farewell Becomes a Celebration of Love
Love, shared stories, simple rituals and natural settings can turn a goodbye into a celebration of life. Six reasons, with ideas for shaping your own.
Read →
August 11, 2025
Why Preneed Planning Is a Gift for Loved Ones?
Planning ahead is a quiet act of love. How preneed planning eases stress for your family, honors your wishes, and makes room for earth-friendly choices.
Read →
August 4, 2025
What Terramation Means for Modern Farewell
Terramation gently returns your loved one to the earth as living soil. What the process involves, what it means to families, and how to choose a provider.
Read →
July 28, 2025
Creating Meaningful Tributes Through Cremation
A meaningful cremation tribute begins with intention. Ideas for personal ceremonies, from memory altars to nature gatherings, and how water cremation fits.
Read →
July 21, 2025
Simple, Natural Burial for a Meaningful Farewell
Natural burial is a timeless practice: biodegradable materials, no harsh chemicals, and a resting place in living land. Why it can bring families peace.
Read →
July 14, 2025
A Gentle Return to Nature with Water Cremation
What water cremation is, how warm water gently returns your loved one to nature, and why families who care for the earth find peace in choosing it.
Read →
June 23, 2025
The Changing Landscape of Farewells and Cremation
Farewells are becoming more personal. How cremation, earth-minded options, livestreamed services, and storytelling are changing how families say goodbye.
Read →
June 16, 2025
How Funeral Homes Support Community Healing
A funeral home can help a whole community grieve together, through shared remembrance, honored traditions, grief support and room for every generation.
Read →
June 9, 2025
Water Cremation and the Poetry of the Life Cycle
Water has long stood for renewal. A reflection on how water cremation echoes nature's cycles and makes room for simple, meaningful rituals of goodbye.
Read →
June 7, 2025
The Environmental Benefits of Terramation Explained
Lower emissions, no toxic chemicals, less land use, and soil that feeds new life. A clear, gentle look at the environmental benefits of terramation.
Read →
← Newer 1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
Older →
Some questions are better answered by a person
Call any hour, or send a note. We listen first, and we never rush you.
Call (720) 515-2344 Send us a message

---

# https://www.thenaturalfuneral.com/blog/page/5

Blog
Things worth saying out loud.
Page 5 of 9.
June 2, 2025
How Terramation Brings Us Closer to the Natural World
A reflection on terramation: returning to the soil that feeds forests and gardens, and the simple peace of becoming part of the natural world again.
Read →
May 26, 2025
Water Cremation and Its Impact on Funeral Home Services
How water cremation works, why it is gentler on the earth, and how funeral homes are changing to offer it, plus common questions and memorial ideas.
Read →
May 23, 2025
How to Choose a Memorial Theme That Reflects Your Loved One
Ideas for a memorial theme that feels like your person: their passions, a favorite flower or color, a fitting setting, shared stories and lasting tributes.
Read →
May 19, 2025
The Importance of Keeping Pre-Need Documents Accessible
Your wishes help most when they are easy to find. Ways to organize pre-need documents, keep paper and digital copies safe, and tell family where to look.
Read →
May 12, 2025
Why More People Are Now Choosing Water Cremation Services
Lower energy use, no flame, and a gentle return to nature: the reasons more people choose water cremation, and how faiths and laws are coming to accept it.
Read →
April 28, 2025
The Role of Music and Readings in Cremation Services
Songs, poems and spoken words can carry what is hard to say. How to choose music and readings for a cremation service and invite loved ones to share.
Read →
April 21, 2025
How to Write and Deliver a Memorable Eulogy
Asked to give a eulogy? Gentle, practical steps for gathering stories, finding a theme, writing in your own voice, and speaking calmly when emotions rise.
Read →
April 14, 2025
How Water Cremation Supports the Environment
Water cremation uses no flame at all. See how it saves energy, protects water and soil, and lets a farewell reflect the values your person lived by.
Read →
April 7, 2025
Why Families Are Choosing Natural Burial Grounds
No embalming, no steel or concrete: natural burial lets your loved one rest in living land. Why families find peace in these quiet meadows and woods.
Read →
March 24, 2025
Deciding Who Holds the Authority for Cremation Choices
Who has the right to decide on cremation? A plain guide to the usual order of authority, why written wishes matter, and what helps when family disagrees.
Read →
March 17, 2025
How Funeral Coordinators Help Families Navigate Loss
What a funeral coordinator does for a grieving family: steady support, paperwork and permits, a personal service, obituary help and care afterward.
Read →
March 10, 2025
What to Expect with Cremation When Making Final Arrangements
Arranging a cremation for someone you love? What to expect, from permits and the choice to witness, to personal ceremonies and ways to keep them close.
Read →
← Newer 1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
Older →
Some questions are better answered by a person
Call any hour, or send a note. We listen first, and we never rush you.
Call (720) 515-2344 Send us a message

---

# https://www.thenaturalfuneral.com/blog/page/6

Blog
Things worth saying out loud.
Page 6 of 9.
March 3, 2025
The Importance of Scheduling a Funeral at the Right Time
Choosing when to hold a funeral shapes who can gather and how the day feels. How travel, grief, faith traditions and tributes can help guide the timing.
Read →
February 24, 2025
Honoring Loved Ones Sustainably with Water Cremation
Water cremation uses water, warmth and an alkaline solution in place of flame. See how it works and why it can honor your loved one and the earth.
Read →
February 17, 2025
Terramation: A Thoughtful Choice for Eco-Conscious Families
For families who live close to the earth, terramation offers a farewell that gives back. How it works, and how its soil can nourish gardens and forests.
Read →
February 10, 2025
What to Know About Water Cremation and Its Many Benefits
Also called alkaline hydrolysis, water cremation uses warm water instead of flame. The science, why it is kinder to the earth, and how the law is changing.
Read →
February 3, 2025
How Human Composting Supports Green Memorial Traditions
What happens during terramation, and how families use the soil it creates in gardens or conservation work, a green tradition for a life lived lightly.
Read →
January 27, 2025
Ensuring Safety And Sanitation In Human Compost Facilities
How terramation is kept safe and clean: state oversight, sealed and monitored vessels, trained staff, and gentle, reverent care at every step.
Read →
January 20, 2025
Water Cremation as a Solution to Burial Space Shortages
As burial land grows scarce, water cremation offers a gentle choice that needs no plot. How it works, its lighter footprint, and why families choose it.
Read →
January 13, 2025
How Terramation Is Reshaping Traditional Funeral Services
How terramation is changing the familiar funeral: no embalming or heavy casket, a gentle return to soil, and a legacy that can nourish trees and gardens.
Read →
January 6, 2025
Role of Human Composting in Sustainable Death Care Practices
Terramation, or natural organic reduction, returns a loved one to the soil. How it works, how it differs from conventional care, and why it matters.
Read →
December 30, 2024
Involving Friends in the Memorial Process After Cremation
Friends often hold stories the family has never heard. Ways to include them after cremation: shared tributes, a memory circle and roles in the service.
Read →
December 23, 2024
An Inside Look at Modern Funeral Home Services
Personal memorials, green burial, grief support, livestreamed services, keepsakes and planning ahead: a look at what a modern funeral home can offer you.
Read →
December 16, 2024
Seasonal Tributes and Gatherings to Memorialize Loved Ones
Remembrance can follow the seasons. Ideas for planting in spring, gathering outdoors in summer, giving thanks in autumn, and lighting candles in winter.
Read →
← Newer 1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
Older →
Some questions are better answered by a person
Call any hour, or send a note. We listen first, and we never rush you.
Call (720) 515-2344 Send us a message

---

# https://www.thenaturalfuneral.com/blog/page/7

Blog
Things worth saying out loud.
Page 7 of 9.
December 9, 2024
Navigating Grief with Support from Your Funeral Home
Grief has its own pace. See how a funeral home can walk beside you, with grief resources, counseling, a personal memorial, and quiet spaces to remember.
Read →
November 28, 2024
Selecting a Memorial Photographer for Cremation Services
Photographs can hold moments you may not remember. How to choose a memorial photographer, agree on style and privacy, and receive images edited with care.
Read →
November 18, 2024
Memorial Service Themes and Funeral Homes
Nature-inspired, spiritual, joyful, cultural or simply quiet: memorial service themes, and how a funeral home can help shape a day true to your person.
Read →
November 11, 2024
Choosing Readings for a Cremation Memorial
Finding the right words for a cremation memorial: choosing spiritual, secular or poetic readings, adding personal letters, and balancing them well.
Read →
October 28, 2024
Organizing a Meaningful Home Wake for a Loved One
A home wake lets family and friends gather somewhere familiar. Gentle ideas for the space, rituals, food, and stories that make it feel like your person.
Read →
October 14, 2024
Water Cremation: How It Works and Why It’s Sustainable
A plain look at how water cremation works, from warm water and an alkaline solution to what returns to your family, and why it uses less energy than flame.
Read →
October 7, 2024
The Role of a Funeral Celebrant: Crafting Unique Memorials
A funeral celebrant listens to your family, writes a tribute to your person's life, and leads a ceremony built around their story, for any faith or none.
Read →
September 30, 2024
Planning a Cremation Service Without a Funeral Director
Arranging a cremation service on your own is possible. A guide to permits, choosing a provider, planning a personal ceremony, and caring for the ashes.
Read →
September 23, 2024
How Water Cremation Supports Environmental Sustainability
How water cremation lightens its footprint: no flame, a fraction of the energy, no mercury in the air, and ashes that can help grow a memorial garden.
Read →
September 16, 2024
Creating a Lasting Tribute with Cremation Art
Cremation art turns a small portion of your loved one's ashes into glass, jewelry or paint. Explore the options, shared projects, and what to consider.
Read →
September 9, 2024
Planning a Funeral That Reflects a Commitment to Nature
Honor a love of the earth in every detail: a green burial, an outdoor service, natural ceremony elements, recycled paper, and gifts in their name.
Read →
August 26, 2024
Safety Protocols and Standards in the Cremation Process
A plain look behind the scenes of cremation: equipment upkeep, operator training, emission controls, and how your loved one is identified with care.
Read →
← Newer 1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
Older →
Some questions are better answered by a person
Call any hour, or send a note. We listen first, and we never rush you.
Call (720) 515-2344 Send us a message

---

# https://www.thenaturalfuneral.com/blog/page/8

Blog
Things worth saying out loud.
Page 8 of 9.
August 19, 2024
The Peace of Mind in Pre-Planning Your Funeral Services
When you plan your funeral ahead, you can choose the music, readings and setting, ease decisions for your family, and settle financial and legal details.
Read →
August 12, 2024
Dealing with Grief: Cremation and the Process of Letting Go
How cremation can shape grief, with gentle ways through it: a home memorial, a gathering, simple rituals, support from others and scattering ashes.
Read →
August 5, 2024
Embracing Earth: The Growing Trend of Green Burials
Green burial lets your loved one return to the earth without embalming or a vault. Why families choose it, alongside terramation and water cremation.
Read →
July 22, 2024
How Water Cremation Preserves and Honors Memories
Gentle and flame-free, water cremation allows a calm goodbye. How it works, and how families keep memories close, from scattered ashes to keepsakes.
Read →
July 15, 2024
Life Celebration and the Legacy of Acts of Kindness
A life celebration can invite guests to carry your person's kindness forward, through service, giving or a garden in their name, building a lasting legacy.
Read →
July 8, 2024
The Emotional Aspects of Opting for Water Cremation
Choosing water cremation is as much emotional as practical. The comfort it can bring, how to talk it over with family, and how to explain it to children.
Read →
July 1, 2024
The Practice of Mourning Periods Following Burial Services
From shiva to personal rituals, mourning periods give grief a shape. How cultures and faiths observe them after a burial, and how they help families heal.
Read →
June 24, 2024
Discussing Cremation with Your Family
Talking with your family about cremation can feel hard. How to start the conversation, ease common worries, respect faith and culture, and decide together.
Read →
June 17, 2024
The Art and Craft of Funeral Floral Arrangements
Flowers speak when words are hard to find. The meaning of common blooms and colors, types of funeral arrangements, cultural customs, and personal touches.
Read →
June 10, 2024
Handling Grief When Opting for Cremation
Without a gravesite, grief after cremation can feel different. Gentle ways to cope: a memorial space at home, shared rituals and keeping memories close.
Read →
June 3, 2024
Coping with Loss During the Holidays
The holidays can feel heavy after a loss. Ways to honor your grief, adapt traditions, care for yourself, remember your loved one and let joy back in.
Read →
May 27, 2024
How Water Cremation Aligns with Green Lifestyle Choices
If you live with care for the planet, water cremation can carry that forward. How it works without flame, and why it fits a greener way of life.
Read →
← Newer 1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
Older →
Some questions are better answered by a person
Call any hour, or send a note. We listen first, and we never rush you.
Call (720) 515-2344 Send us a message

---

# https://www.thenaturalfuneral.com/blog/page/9

Blog
Things worth saying out loud.
Page 9 of 9.
May 20, 2024
How Human Composting Promotes a Circular Life Cycle
Terramation gently returns your loved one to the earth as living soil. Learn how the process works and how it reflects the circle of life and new growth.
Read →
May 13, 2024
Embracing Terramation and Water Cremation
Terramation and water cremation explained: how each returns your loved one to the earth, why they ask less of the planet, and how views are shifting.
Read →
May 6, 2024
Future of Burials – A Shift Towards Terramation
Burial is changing. Learn what terramation, or natural organic reduction, involves, why it is lighter on the earth, and how legal recognition is growing.
Read →
October 1, 2023
Sowing Seeds of Change: How Does a Green Burial Differ from a Conventional Burial?
How does a green burial differ from a conventional one? Embalming and grave liners give way to natural shrouds, simple caskets, and a return to the soil.
Read →
← Newer 1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
Older →
Some questions are better answered by a person
Call any hour, or send a note. We listen first, and we never rush you.
Call (720) 515-2344 Send us a message

---

# https://www.thenaturalfuneral.com/es

Esta página está en español. El resto del sitio todavía está en inglés. Si prefiere
conversar en español, llámenos al (720) 515-2344 y con
gusto le acompañamos en su idioma, a cualquier hora.
Lafayette y Loveland · Al servicio del Front Range
Su hogar para una despedida más natural.
Terramation, cremación con agua, entierro natural y cada opción suave que hay
entre ellas, con calidez y sin presión, de parte de personas que tienen tiempo
para usted.
Falleció un ser querido Quiero planificar
O llámenos ahora, de día o de noche:
(720) 515-2344
Llegue como llegue, está en el lugar correcto
Falleció un ser querido
Podemos ayudarle ahora mismo
Llame a cualquier hora. Primero le escuchamos, luego le explicamos qué sigue y recibimos a su ser querido en nuestro cuidado con ternura.
Necesidad inmediata → Pensando en el futuro
Planifique a su propio ritmo
Deje sus deseos escritos con sus propias palabras, para que su familia no tenga que adivinar. Sin prisa, y hoy no hay nada que firmar.
Planificar con tiempo → Conociendo las opciones
Descubra una despedida natural
Terramation, cremación con agua, entierro natural y más, explicados en palabras sencillas para que usted elija lo que sienta suyo.
Ver servicios →
Todas las despedidas naturales, aquí en su comunidad
Somos la única funeraria de Colorado donde una familia puede elegir cualquier
despedida que honre la tierra: terramation, cremación con agua, entierro natural
o cremación con fuego, en persona y en una sola conversación tranquila. Nada se
envía lejos. No hay una sola opción. Están todas, aquí mismo.
Terramation
La reducción orgánica natural: una transformación suave en tierra viva. Somos la única funeraria en Colorado que la ofrece.
Cremación con agua
Una alternativa sin fuego, más suave con la tierra. Fuimos los primeros en ofrecerla en Colorado.
Entierro natural
Un regreso sencillo a la tierra: sin embalsamamiento y sin bóveda de concreto.
Cremación con fuego
La opción más conocida, realizada con el mismo respeto y el mismo cuidado.
Los precios de cada opción están publicados en nuestra
página de precios (por ahora en inglés), y con gusto se los
explicamos cuando usted hable con nosotros .
¿Qué es la terramation?
Terramation, la reducción orgánica natural, es un proceso suave que transforma
un cuerpo en tierra viva a lo largo de unas semanas. Es la misma renovación
callada que ha sostenido a los bosques durante milenios, acompañada aquí con
cuidado en cada paso.
Conocer nuestros servicios
Nuestro cortometraje, en inglés, está en la página de terramation
En palabras de las familias
“I felt held the whole way through.”
“A place of exquisite personalized care.”
“So kind, compassionate and honoring of my feelings.”
Reseñas de Google sobre The Natural Funeral, escritas por las familias y
conservadas en su idioma original.
Cuando usted esté listo, aquí estamos
Sin presión y sin compromiso. Una persona de verdad, a cualquier hora, que primero escucha.
Llamar (720) 515-2344 Escríbanos

---

# https://www.thenaturalfuneral.com/es/contacto

Esta página está en español. El resto del sitio todavía está en inglés. Si prefiere
conversar en español, llámenos al (720) 515-2344 y con
gusto le acompañamos en su idioma, a cualquier hora.
Contáctenos
Una persona de verdad, a cualquier hora.
Ya sea que un ser querido acabe de fallecer, que esté planificando con tiempo o
que simplemente tenga una pregunta, llámenos. Contestamos de día y de noche, y
nunca le vamos a apurar para colgar.
Contestamos las 24 horas (720) 515-2344
Si prefiere que le atendamos en español, dígalo al llamar y con gusto le
comunicamos con alguien que habla su idioma.
Venga a vernos
Nuestras funerarias de Lafayette y Loveland están abiertas para usted, y nuestro
Care Center de Arvada, donde suceden la terramation y la cremación con agua,
recibe visitas en recorridos con cita.
Funeraria de Lafayette
Funeraria
102 W Chester St, Lafayette, CO 80026
Cómo llegar →
Funeraria de Loveland
Funeraria
1440 N Boise Ave, Loveland, CO 80538
Cómo llegar →
The Care Center
Centro de cuidados · con cita
6065 W 55th Pl, Arvada, CO 80002
Cómo llegar →
¿Prefiere escribir?
Puede dejarnos un mensaje con el formulario de nuestra
página de contacto , que por ahora está en inglés. Aun así,
la forma más rápida de encontrarnos siempre es el teléfono, y si quiere que le
devolvamos la llamada a una hora más tranquila, solo díganoslo cuando nos contacte.

---

# https://www.thenaturalfuneral.com/es/necesidad-inmediata

Esta página está en español. El resto del sitio todavía está en inglés. Si prefiere
conversar en español, llámenos al (720) 515-2344 y con
gusto le acompañamos en su idioma, a cualquier hora.
Falleció un ser querido
Estamos aquí, ahora mismo.
Lamentamos mucho lo que está viviendo. Sea lo que sea que haya pasado, y sea lo
que sea que necesite, no lo va a cargar solo. Llámenos a cualquier hora y una
persona cálida y capaz le ayudará a dar el paso que sigue, solamente el que sigue.
Llamar (720) 515-2344 Qué sucede ahora
Contesta una persona, no una máquina, las 24 horas del día.
Qué sucede ahora
Cuatro pasos, a su ritmo. Usted solo necesita pensar en el siguiente.
1 Llámenos, a cualquier hora
Contesta una persona de verdad, de día o de noche. Tómese el tiempo que necesite. Primero le escuchamos y después le hacemos unas pocas preguntas sencillas para empezar a cuidar de usted.
2 Vamos hasta donde esté su persona
Donde se encuentre su ser querido, en casa, en un hospicio, en un hospital o en un centro de cuidados, iremos a recibirlo en nuestro cuidado con calma y respeto. Usted puede estar presente tanto o tan poco como se sienta bien.
3 Nos sentamos juntos
Cuando usted esté listo, nos reunimos, en persona o por teléfono. Empezamos por quién fue su persona y qué le importaba, y después repasamos sus opciones con claridad, con precios abiertos y sin empujarle hacia ninguna.
4 Nosotros llevamos los trámites
Documentos, permisos, avisos y coordinación con sacerdotes, celebrantes o cementerios. Nos ocupamos de todo lo que se pueda hacer por usted, para que sus fuerzas queden con su familia.
Lo que puede esperar de nosotros
Sin presión, nunca
Nadie le va a apurar, ni venderle de más, ni dirigirle hacia una opción. Todo se explica con claridad, y cada decisión sigue siendo suya.
Tiempo y espacio
El duelo no sigue un horario. Damos lugar a velorios, ceremonias en casa y simplemente acompañar a su persona en silencio. Nada de estas horas tiene que ir de prisa.
Todas las opciones, con transparencia
Terramation, cremación con agua, entierro natural, cremación con fuego y ceremonias de toda forma, con precios claros desde el momento en que usted pregunte.
Si su persona está en otra ciudad o en otro estado, llámenos de todos modos.
Coordinamos traslado y cuidado a distancia con más frecuencia de lo que se imagina.
No tiene que sostener esto solo
Llámenos y le ayudamos a dar el siguiente paso, sea cual sea.
Llamar (720) 515-2344 Escríbanos

---

# https://www.thenaturalfuneral.com/es/planificar

Esta página está en español. El resto del sitio todavía está en inglés. Si prefiere
conversar en español, llámenos al (720) 515-2344 y con
gusto le acompañamos en su idioma, a cualquier hora.
Planificar con tiempo
Una de las cosas más generosas que puede hacer.
Planificar su propia despedida no es algo sombrío, es un acto de generosidad.
Le evita a quienes usted quiere la carga de adivinar, y le permite elegir un
adiós que de verdad refleje su vida y sus valores. No hay ninguna prisa y hoy
no hay nada que firmar.
Conversemos con calma Llamar (720) 515-2344
También tenemos un planificador en línea, gratuito y privado, que avanza a su
propio ritmo. Por ahora está en inglés, y con gusto lo recorremos con usted en
español por teléfono.
Por qué las familias planifican con tiempo
Sus deseos, respetados
Ya sea que imagine terramation, un entierro natural, una cremación con agua o una ceremonia sencilla a cielo abierto, dejarlo por escrito significa que sucederá tal como usted lo pensó.
Su familia, aliviada
Lo más generoso de planificar con tiempo es lo que les quita: las dudas, las decisiones más difíciles y el peso de tener que adivinar durante su semana más dura.
Los costos, resueltos
Al planificar ahora, usted puede dejar financiados sus arreglos a los precios de hoy, en números claros, para que el costo nunca sea una carga ni una sorpresa para su familia.
Cómo funciona
Tres pasos sin prisa. A la mayoría le sorprende lo ligero que se siente una vez hecho.
1 Una conversación, no una visita de ventas
Nos sentamos juntos, en persona en Lafayette o en Loveland, o por teléfono, y hablamos de lo que a usted le importa. No hay nada que firmar ni ningún compromiso, y muchas personas simplemente empiezan aquí.
2 Sus deseos, con sus propias palabras
Le ayudamos a poner sus decisiones en papel: la despedida que quiere, las personas a incluir y los detalles que la hacen suya. Puede cambiar cualquier cosa, en cualquier momento.
3 El financiamiento, si usted lo decide
Si decide financiar su plan, repasamos las opciones con claridad. En Colorado, los acuerdos funerarios anticipados están regulados por la División de Seguros de Colorado, y siempre le mostraremos exactamente qué queda garantizado.
Venga a conocernos
Acompáñenos en un recorrido por nuestro Care Center, donde realmente suceden la
terramation y la cremación con agua, o en una de nuestras conversaciones
comunitarias sobre las opciones naturales al final de la vida. Muchas personas
nos dicen que una visita lo aclaró todo, y le quitó el misterio.
Preguntar por los recorridos
Empiece la conversación cuando usted quiera
Una primera charla tranquila, sin compromiso, y todo explicado en palabras sencillas.
Llamar (720) 515-2344 Escríbanos

---

# https://www.thenaturalfuneral.com/es/servicios

Esta página está en español. El resto del sitio todavía está en inglés. Si prefiere
conversar en español, llámenos al (720) 515-2344 y con
gusto le acompañamos en su idioma, a cualquier hora.
Nuestros servicios
Empezamos por quién fue su persona.
Aquí cada arreglo empieza igual: no con una lista de precios, sino con una
conversación sobre la persona que usted quiere, lo que le importaba y lo que dio
sentido a su vida. La despedida correcta nace de ahí, y le ayudaremos a
encontrarla entre todas las opciones naturales, todas cerca de casa.
Formas de regresar a la tierra
Terramation
Terramation, la reducción orgánica natural, es una transformación suave en tierra viva a lo largo de varias semanas, y una manera de que una vida siga dando. Somos la única funeraria en Colorado que la ofrece.
Cremación con agua
Una alternativa sin fuego, basada en agua, más suave con la tierra que la cremación tradicional. Fuimos los primeros en Colorado en ofrecerla.
Entierro natural
Un regreso sencillo y natural a la tierra: sin embalsamamiento y sin bóveda de concreto, solamente un sudario o un recipiente biodegradable en tierra viva.
Cremación con fuego
La opción más conocida, realizada con el mismo respeto, la misma transparencia y el mismo cuidado que ponemos en todo lo que hacemos.
Las páginas con todos los detalles de cada opción están por ahora en inglés. Si
quiere que le expliquemos cualquiera de ellas en español, llámenos al
(720) 515-2344 y con gusto lo hacemos, con calma y sin apuro.
El cuidado alrededor de la despedida
Reverent Body Care®
La preparación suave y natural de su persona: baño, unción con aceites esenciales y una ternura sin prisa, nunca embalsamamiento químico.
Parting Stone
Otra forma de tener a alguien cerca: las cenizas se convierten en cuarenta a sesenta piedras lisas y hermosas que su familia puede guardar, repartir y llevar consigo.
Ceremonias y encuentros
Velorios, ceremonias de colocación, celebraciones de vida y funerales en casa, creados junto a nuestros celebrantes alrededor de su persona, sus tradiciones y sus creencias.
Los precios de cada servicio están publicados en nuestra
página de precios , por ahora en inglés. Si lo prefiere,
pregúntenos y se los explicamos en español, con calma.
¿No sabe por dónde empezar?
Es completamente normal. Cuéntenos de su persona y repasamos juntos las opciones.
Llamar (720) 515-2344 Escríbanos

---

# https://www.thenaturalfuneral.com/google646f047349e91408

google-site-verification: google646f047349e91408.html

---

# https://www.thenaturalfuneral.com/immediate-need

We're here, right now.
We are so sorry about the challenges you may be facing now.
Whatever has happened, and whatever you need, you will not carry it alone.
Call us and a warm, capable person will help you take the very next step.
Call us day or night:
(720) 515-2344
OR
Send us a message
What happens next.
Four steps, taken at your pace. You only ever need to think about the next one.
1 Call us, any hour
A real person answers, day or night. Take whatever time you need. We will listen first, then gently ask a few simple questions so we can begin caring for you.
2 We come to you
Wherever your person is, at home, in hospice, at a hospital or care facility, we will bring them into our care with unhurried reverence. You are welcome to be present for as much or as little as feels right. If you would rather keep your person at home for a time, that is your right in Colorado, and we will support you through a home vigil for as long as you want one.
3 We sit down together
When you are ready, we meet, in person or by phone. We start with who your person was and what mattered to them, then walk through your choices plainly, with clear pricing information and no pressure.
4 We carry the details
Paperwork, permits, notifications, coordination with clergy, celebrants, or cemeteries. We handle what can be handled for you, so your energy can go to your family.
What you can expect from us.
No pressure, ever
You will never be rushed, upsold, or steered. Every option is explained plainly, and every decision stays yours.
Time and space
We know this may be a difficult time. We’re here to guide you through the next steps with clarity, compassion and care.
Every option, openly
Terramation, water cremation, natural burial, flame cremation, and ceremony in every form, with transparent pricing shared up front.
If your person is in another city or state, call us anyway. We coordinate
transport and care across distances more often than you might think.
You don't have to hold this alone.
Call now and we will help you take the next step, whatever it is.
Call us day or night:
(720) 515-2344
OR
Send us a message

---

# https://www.thenaturalfuneral.com/learn

Learn
Understanding is its own kind of comfort.
Natural after-death care is new to most people, and every question you
have is welcome here. These guides explain things the way we would
across a kitchen table: plainly, honestly, and without hurry.
What Is Terramation?
The plain-language guide to natural organic reduction: how it works, what it costs, and the questions families actually ask.
Read → Explore All Our Services
Every natural goodbye here in your community, from terramation to natural burial to ceremony.
Read → Care Center Tours
See where terramation and water cremation happen. Many people say a visit made everything feel clear.
Read → Compare Your Options
The four natural options side by side: how each works, how long each takes, and what each gives back.
Read → Talking With Your Family
Gentle, plain words for the conversation, especially with a relative who has doubts.
Read → Common Questions
Everything families ask us about terramation, water cremation, natural burial, costs, and what to do when someone dies.
Read → Where Natural Burial Can Happen
The Colorado burial grounds that welcome natural burial, what each one allows, and how to tell whether yours will.
Read → Grief Support
Resources, groups, and companionship for the road after the goodbye.
Read →
A question these pages don't answer?
Ask a person instead. We love the hard questions, and we answer them plainly.
Call (720) 515-2344 Send us a message

---

# https://www.thenaturalfuneral.com/learn/cemeteries

Learn · Burial grounds
Where a natural burial can happen in Colorado.
Not every cemetery allows a natural burial, and the ones that do allow
different things. Here is what we know about the burial grounds near
us, what each one permits, and how to tell whether any cemetery your
family has in mind can hold the burial you are picturing.
We work with all of them, and with cemeteries that are not on this list
at all. Where your person rests is your family’s choice, not ours.
What makes a burial ground right for natural burial
It comes down to three permissions. A burial ground can hold a natural
burial if it does not require a concrete vault or grave liner, accepts a
biodegradable casket or a shroud, and does not require embalming. Those
are the same three standards the Green Burial Council holds burial
grounds to.
One honest caveat, because families are often surprised by it: most
burial grounds ask for a rigid board or carrier beneath a shroud so the
lowering is safe for the people holding the straps. That is a handling
requirement, not a vault, and it does not make the burial any less
natural.
The three levels of certification
Level What it means What to expect
Hybrid burial ground A natural burial section inside an otherwise conventional cemetery. No vault and a biodegradable container within that section. The rest of the grounds follow ordinary rules, so ask which section you are being shown.
Natural burial ground Land set aside for natural burial and nothing else. Natural burial rules everywhere, plus an ecological assessment of the land and limits on where graves can go.
Conservation burial ground Natural burial on land held under a conservation easement or land trust. Everything above, with binding commitments to protect and restore the land permanently. The burial helps preserve the place.
Certification is a helpful signal, not a requirement. Several fine
burial grounds near us offer natural burial without seeking it.
Burial grounds on the Front Range
Each of these accepts natural burial. Costs were gathered by calling the
burial grounds directly in June 2026 and are a guide, not a quote:
cemeteries change their pricing, and several charge differently
depending on where your family lives. We confirm the current figures
before any burial is arranged, and you are always welcome to ask us
first rather than call around yourself.
Roselawn Cemetery
Fort Collins
Green Burial Council certified, hybrid burial ground
A natural burial section inside a city-run cemetery, kept to Green Burial Council standards while the rest of the grounds operate conventionally. It is the only certified option this close to the northern Front Range.
No outer burial container required in that section
Biodegradable casket or shroud
No embalming, or only certified products
Plot $2,932 Opening and closing $1,514 Visit their site → Seven Stones Botanical Gardens Cemetery
Littleton
A botanical-garden cemetery south of Denver with dedicated natural burial areas. The setting is deliberately garden-like rather than wild, which suits some families exactly.
Natural burial areas with no vault required
Biodegradable casket or shroud
No embalming required
Plot Mystic Law / Meadow View $5,750 · The Grove $8,050 Opening and closing $2,800 Visit their site → Evergreen Memorial Park
Evergreen
A foothills cemetery with a published natural burial option, close enough to Denver for most families to visit easily.
Natural burial section
Biodegradable casket or shroud
No embalming required
Plot $2,845 Opening and closing $2,320 Visit their site → Foothills Gardens of Memory
Longmont
Offers both natural and green burial, with perpetual care included in the plot cost. One of the closest options to our Lafayette funeral home.
Natural and green burial sections
Biodegradable casket or shroud
No embalming required
Plot $2,480, perpetual care included Opening and closing $1,550 for green and natural burial Visit their site → Mount Pleasant Cemetery
Erie
A town-run cemetery in Erie that accepts natural burial, minutes from Lafayette.
Natural burial accepted
Biodegradable casket or shroud
No embalming required
Plot Residents $2,500 · non-residents $3,500 Opening and closing $3,000 Visit their site → Lyons Cemetery
Lyons
A small municipal cemetery in the foothills northwest of Boulder, and one of the least expensive options on this list.
Natural burial accepted
Biodegradable casket or shroud
No embalming required
Plot $1,200 Opening and closing $900 Ask us about this one → Cedar Hill Cemetery
Castle Rock
A Castle Rock cemetery accepting natural burial, with pricing tiered by how close your family lives.
Natural burial accepted
Biodegradable casket or shroud
No embalming required
Plot Castle Rock residents $2,500 · Douglas County $3,000 · outside the county with family already buried there $3,500 Opening and closing $1,400 Visit their site → Bear Canyon Cemetery
Sedalia
A rural cemetery south-west of Denver with the lowest plot cost on this list for nearby zip codes.
Natural burial accepted
Biodegradable casket or shroud
No embalming required
Plot $900 for zip codes 80131, 80135 and 80118 · $1,500 elsewhere in Douglas County · $2,500 outside it Opening and closing $975, or $1,125 at weekends Visit their site → Resthaven Memory Gardens
Fort Collins
A large Fort Collins cemetery with natural burial available across a range of sections and price points.
Natural burial available
Biodegradable casket or shroud
No embalming required
Plot $2,495 to $5,995 depending on section Opening and closing $2,195 Ask us about this one → Fort Logan National Cemetery
Denver
Eligible veterans and dependants only
A national cemetery serving veterans and their families. Burial is covered by VA benefits, and natural burial practices are accommodated within the cemetery’s own rules.
Burial covered by VA benefits
Confirm shroud and container rules directly
Eligibility requirements apply
Plot Included in VA benefits Opening and closing Included in VA benefits Visit their site →
Farther afield in Colorado
Both of these are certified natural cemeteries, and both are a genuine
drive from the Front Range. Some families decide the place is worth the
distance, and we will carry your person there.
Colorado Burial Preserve
Florence, about two hours south of Denver
Green Burial Council certified, natural cemetery
Colorado’s first conservation-minded burial preserve. Burial here is part of keeping the land itself intact, which is exactly the point for some families.
Natural burial only, across the whole ground
No vaults, no embalming
Biodegradable container or shroud
Plot Assigned grave space at need $2,760 · choose your own gravesite $4,025 Opening and closing $1,125 Visit their site → Crestone Cemetery
Crestone, in the San Luis Valley
Green Burial Council certified, natural cemetery
Saguache County residents only
Colorado’s first certified natural cemetery, in a small town with a long tradition of caring for its own dead. Burial is limited to residents of its county, so it is not an option for most Front Range families.
Natural burial only
No vaults, no embalming
Biodegradable container or shroud
Visit their site → Buckskin Cemetery
Alma, in Park County
A high-country cemetery in one of the highest towns in North America. Modest costs, and a genuine drive from the Front Range.
Natural burial accepted
Biodegradable casket or shroud
No embalming required
Plot $1,000 Opening and closing $250 Visit their site → Pikes Peak National Cemetery
Colorado Springs
Eligible veterans and dependants only
A national cemetery south of Denver serving veterans and their families, with burial covered by VA benefits.
Burial covered by VA benefits
Confirm shroud and container rules directly
Eligibility requirements apply
Plot Included in VA benefits Opening and closing Included in VA benefits Visit their site →
Questions families ask
What actually makes a cemetery right for natural burial? Three things, mostly. It does not require a concrete vault or grave liner. It accepts a biodegradable casket or a shroud. And it does not require embalming. A cemetery that says yes to all three can hold a natural burial, whether or not it is certified.
Does the cemetery have to be certified? No. Certification by the Green Burial Council is a useful signal, and Colorado has three certified cemeteries. But several excellent burial grounds here offer natural burial without pursuing certification. What matters is what the ground actually permits, in writing.
Can we use a shroud with no casket at all? Almost always, with one practical caveat families are often surprised by. Most burial grounds ask for a rigid board or carrier beneath the shroud so the lowering is safe and steady for everyone holding the straps. It is a handling requirement, not a vault.
What if the cemetery we want is not on this list? Then we call them together. Plenty of conventional cemeteries will allow a more natural burial than their brochure suggests, and we know which questions get a straight answer. Here is how our natural burial service works.
Can we be buried on our own land instead? Sometimes, and it depends entirely on where the land is, because county zoning governs it. The answer differs from county to county, so it is a real question with a real answer. Ask us and we will help you find yours.
Next: how our natural burial service works ,
or compare natural burial with the other options .
Have a cemetery in mind already?
Tell us which one and we will find out exactly what they allow. It is usually one phone call, and we are happy to make it.
Call (720) 515-2344 Send us a message

---

# https://www.thenaturalfuneral.com/learn/compare-your-options

Learn · Compare your options
Four natural goodbyes, side by side.
Every family weighs this differently, and there is no right answer,
only the answer that is right for your person. Here are the four paths
we offer, laid out plainly: what happens, how long it takes, what
comes back to your family, and what each one gives the earth.
At a glance
Comparison Terramation Water Cremation Natural Burial Flame Cremation
What happens Your person is gently transformed into Regenerative Living Soil™ inside a Chrysalis™ vessel, through warmth, moisture, and natural microbes. A flameless, water-based process returns your person to nature with warm water and a small amount of natural alkali. Your person is laid directly into living ground in a shroud or biodegradable casket, with no embalming and no vault. The familiar cremation process, performed by a licensed crematory we trust, with your person in our care before and after and reverence at every step.
Roughly how long A few months, including about thirty days of curing and rest. A few weeks in our care, start to finish. The burial itself usually happens within days, at your family’s pace. Days, typically within a week or two including paperwork.
What returns to your family Rich, living soil for a memorial tree, a garden, or land your person loved, or a donation to conservation land. Pure white mineral ash, softer and lighter than flame cremation ash, in a simple, beautiful vessel. Families may also receive the essence, a nutrient-rich liquid that feeds trees and gardens. A natural resting place your family can return to, season after season, marked simply or left wild. Your person’s ashes, to keep, scatter, or transform into Parting Stone your family can hold and share.
What it gives the earth The most generous option we know: a life becomes soil that feeds new life, with very little energy used. No fire and no smoke, and roughly a tenth of the energy of conventional cremation. Almost nothing is taken and much is given: the ground stays living, and some burial grounds double as protected land. The most energy-intensive of the four. We offset what we can and tell you the truth about the rest.
What it costs
Plain pricing, shared the moment you ask. How our pricing works
A little more on each
Terramation
Your person is gently transformed into Regenerative Living Soil™ inside a Chrysalis™ vessel, through warmth, moisture, and natural microbes.
The full picture → Water Cremation
A flameless, water-based process returns your person to nature with warm water and a small amount of natural alkali.
The full picture → Natural Burial
Your person is laid directly into living ground in a shroud or biodegradable casket, with no embalming and no vault.
The full picture → Flame Cremation
The familiar cremation process, performed by a licensed crematory we trust, with your person in our care before and after and reverence at every step.
The full picture →
Questions families ask
Do we have to decide right away? No. Decisions can wait until your family is ready. Your person rests in our care in the meantime, and nothing about this needs to be hurried.
Can we still have a ceremony with any of these options? Yes, every one of them. Vigils, laying-in ceremonies, graveside gatherings, home funerals, and celebrations of life all pair with any path. Ceremony is about your person, not the method.
Is terramation legal in Colorado? Yes. Colorado legalized terramation, also called natural organic reduction, in 2021, and The Natural Funeral helped lead that effort. We are the only funeral home in Colorado offering it.
What does each option cost? Every price is published on our pricing page , straight from our General Price List, and we are always glad to walk you through it by phone or in person. Cost never needs to be a mystery here.
Do any of these options require embalming? No. We never perform chemical embalming. Your person is kept safely and naturally through temperature control, which is what we use in place of embalming for every family. Reverent Body Care®, our gentle bathing and anointing ritual, is available in addition if you would like it, and many families choose it.
Still weighing the options?
That is exactly what we are here for. Talk it through with someone who has time for you.
Call (720) 515-2344 Send us a message

---

# https://www.thenaturalfuneral.com/learn/faq

Learn · Common questions
Every question you have is welcome here.
Natural after-death care is new to most people, and there is no such
thing as a question that is too basic, too practical, or too strange to
ask. Here are the ones families ask us most, answered the way we would
answer them across a kitchen table.
Find your question
About terramation 8 questions Water cremation 6 questions Natural burial 8 questions Planning ahead 5 questions Costs and paperwork 5 questions What happens when someone dies 7 questions
About terramation
Terramation is the reason many families find us, and it is the option people have the most questions about. Ask us anything.
What is terramation? Terramation, also called natural organic reduction or human composting, gently transforms a body into Regenerative Living Soil™. Your person rests in a warm vessel with wood chips, alfalfa, and straw, and naturally occurring microbes do the rest. It uses no fire, no chemicals, and no concrete. The full plain-language guide is here .
How long does terramation take? The transformation itself takes several weeks, followed by about thirty days of curing and rest. Most families receive or place the soil within two to four months. Nothing about the timing is rushed, and we keep you company through all of it.
What is left at the end? About half a cubic yard of rich, living soil, roughly sixteen five-gallon bags. Families take as much as they wish, and many take a portion for a memorial tree or a garden bed. Soil a family does not keep goes to land restoration.
Can the soil be used to grow food? Not food for people. Colorado law is clear on that point, and we honor it completely, along with the rule that the soil is never sold. Memorial trees, flower beds, native plantings, and conservation land are all welcome uses.
Does terramation have an odor? No. The vessel is sealed, and the air that moves through it passes through a charcoal filter before it leaves the building. Families who visit are often surprised by how ordinary and clean the room smells.
Is it sanitary? Yes. The process generates its own steady warmth, and we monitor the temperature throughout. It is the same principle farmers have relied on safely for generations, carried out here with far more care and far more attention.
Is it dignified? Deeply. Your person rests in a wooden Chrysalis™ vessel, often surrounded by flowers and letters from the people who loved them. Nothing about it is industrial. Families are welcome at the laying-in, and many find it the most peaceful part of the whole goodbye.
Is terramation legal in Colorado? Yes. Colorado legalized natural organic reduction in 2021, a law The Natural Funeral helped champion, and we remain the only funeral home in the state that performs it. See how our terramation service works .
Water cremation
Also called alkaline hydrolysis. It is the gentlest of the flameless options, and Colorado families were among the first anywhere to have it.
What is water cremation? Warm water and a small amount of natural alkali do, over hours, what the earth would do slowly on its own. There is no flame and no smoke. What is left is the mineral part of the bone, pure white and soft, along with the essence, a nutrient-rich liquid that is wonderful for plants. Your family may receive either or both. More about water cremation .
Does the process use acid? No. Alkali is the opposite of acid. It is the same family of compounds found in soap and in some everyday foods, and in water cremation it simply speeds up something nature already does.
What comes back to our family? Pure white mineral ash, noticeably softer and lighter than what flame cremation returns, in a simple biodegradable container. You can keep it, scatter it, bury it, or have it made into Parting Stone your family can hold.
How does it compare with flame cremation? It uses roughly a tenth of the energy of conventional cremation, with no fire and nothing released into the air. Many families choose it for exactly that reason. See all four options side by side .
Is water cremation legal in Colorado? Yes, and it has been for years. The Natural Funeral was the first funeral home in Colorado to offer it. Laws elsewhere are changing quickly, so if your family is spread across states, ask us and we will help you find out where things stand.
Is it still respectful? Respect is not in the method. It is in the way a person is cared for, the words used about them, and the time given to their family. That is true of every option on this page, and it is the part we will never rush.
Natural burial
The body goes into living ground with nothing between it and the earth that will not return to earth.
What makes a burial natural? Three things, mostly: no embalming chemicals, no concrete vault or grave liner, and a container that will return to the earth. The Green Burial Council, a nonprofit that certifies burial grounds, holds those same three standards. How our natural burial service works .
Does natural burial require a casket? No. A simple shroud of cotton, linen, or wool is enough, and many families choose one. Do know that most burial grounds ask for a rigid board or carrier beneath a shroud so that the lowering is safe and steady. Biodegradable caskets of wood or woven willow are just as welcome.
Where along the Front Range can we have a natural burial? There are several, and they differ in what they allow and what they cost. We have gathered what we know about each of them here , and we are glad to work with any burial ground your family chooses.
What kind of marker is allowed? It depends on the burial ground. Natural burial grounds usually ask for flat markers of local stone, or use a tree or GPS coordinates instead. Hybrid sections inside conventional cemeteries are often more flexible. We will find out the rules for the place you have in mind.
Can our family take part in the burial itself? Very often, yes, and natural burial invites it more than most. Families carry, lower, speak, sing, and place the first earth. What is permitted varies by burial ground, and we will ask on your behalf before the day comes.
Can someone be buried on private land in Colorado? Sometimes, and it depends entirely on where the land is. County zoning is what governs it, and the answer differs from county to county. It is a real question with a real answer, and we are happy to help you find it for your particular piece of ground.
Can we have a more natural burial at a conventional cemetery? Often, yes, and this is one of the most useful things we do. We can care for your person naturally without embalming, provide a natural casket or shroud, and ask the cemetery whether the outer container can be inverted so that your person still meets the earth beneath.
What is the Green Burial Council? A nonprofit that sets standards for natural burial and certifies burial grounds against them, in three levels: hybrid sections inside conventional cemeteries, natural burial grounds, and conservation grounds held under a land trust. Colorado has three certified cemeteries, and we list them here .
Planning ahead
Planning ahead is a gift you give the people you love. It is also, for most people, far less heavy than they expect.
Why plan ahead at all? Because the alternative is a family guessing, in the hardest week of their lives, at what you would have wanted. Families who arrive with a plan are visibly steadier. They get to grieve instead of decide.
What does planning actually involve? A conversation, mostly. What matters to you, which path feels right, who should be called, and what you want the day to feel like. We write it down, keep it safe, and you can change any of it at any time. Here is how planning works with us .
Can I start on my own, online? Yes. Start your plan online whenever you have a quiet half hour. Nothing is binding, nothing is final, and no one will call you unless you ask us to.
Do I have to pay when I make a plan? No. Recording your wishes costs nothing. Funding a plan ahead of time is a separate choice, and there are real protections around how that money is held in Colorado. We answer the preneed questions in detail here .
How do I bring this up with my family? Gently, and earlier than feels necessary. Most people find the conversation goes better than they feared. We have written down the words that tend to help , including for the relative who thinks all of this is strange.
Costs and paperwork
Two things families are often embarrassed to ask about, and neither one should ever be a mystery here.
How do I find out what things cost? Ask, and we will tell you, on the phone or in person, without a meeting first. Our General Price List is also published in full. See how our pricing works .
Is natural burial less expensive than conventional burial? Sometimes, and sometimes not. There is no vault and no elaborate casket, which removes real cost. But burial ground fees vary a great deal, and a few charge a premium for natural burial sections. We will show you the actual numbers for the places you are considering.
What might help pay for this? Life insurance, a funded plan made in advance, a veteran’s benefit, or contributions from family are the usual sources. Every family’s situation is different. Tell us yours and we will tell you plainly what we see.
What paperwork is involved? A death certificate, the permits Colorado requires before any care can happen, and any authorizations your family needs to sign. We prepare and file all of it. You will never be handed a stack of forms and left alone with them.
How many certified copies of the death certificate will we need? More than most people expect. Banks, insurers, pensions, the county, and the title on a house each tend to want their own. We will walk through your person’s accounts with you and order the right number the first time.
What happens when someone dies
If you are reading this because someone has just died, start with the first answer. Then call us, at any hour.
Someone has died. What do we do first? Breathe, and then call us. There is no clock running. We will tell you exactly what happens next, in order, and we will handle the parts that can be handled without you. Here is what the first day looks like .
Do we have to decide everything right away? No. Almost nothing has to be decided today. Your person rests in our care while your family gathers itself, and choices can wait until you are ready to make them well.
Can our person stay at home for a while? Yes, and more families choose this than you might think. Time at home, with candles and cool care and people coming and going, is often where the real goodbye happens. We will show you how to do it comfortably.
Do you embalm? Never. We do not use embalming chemicals at all. Instead your person receives Reverent Body Care®: gentle bathing, anointing with essential oils, cool and careful keeping, and unhurried tenderness. More about how we care for your person .
Are we required to embalm? It is very rarely necessary, and it is not something we do. If a cemetery or another provider tells your family it is required, you are entitled to ask them to point to the rule in writing. Call us if you would like help asking.
Can we see our person, or take part in their care? Yes to both. Families sit with their person, bathe and anoint them, dress them, and place them into the vessel or the ground themselves. None of this is unusual here, and none of it is too much to ask.
What about a pacemaker or an implant? Tell us if your person had either. A pacemaker has to be removed before flame cremation because of its battery, and we take care of that. Titanium joints and similar implants stay intact and are recycled afterward.
Still holding a question this page didn’t answer?
Ask a person instead. We like the hard questions, and we answer them plainly, with no pressure attached.
Call (720) 515-2344 Send us a message

---

# https://www.thenaturalfuneral.com/learn/grief-support

Learn · Grief support
Grief has no schedule.
It does not end at the ceremony, and it does not follow anyone's
timeline, including yours. Some days it is a wave and some days it is
weather, and both are normal. Whatever day this is for you, we are
glad you are here, and we want you to know that our door does not
close after the goodbye.
Company for the road
We hold community gatherings through the year: unhurried
conversations about death, grief, and everything people are usually
too polite to say out loud. No agenda, no expectation that anyone
shares anything. Many people come simply to sit among others who
understand. Our labyrinth is also open whenever you need it.
They are open to everyone, whether we cared for your person or not.
Learn about our gatherings , or
ask us when the next one is .
Call us, truly
Families sometimes apologize for calling months after a service, as if
grief were supposed to be finished by then. Please do not apologize.
Call to ask a question, to tell us a story about your person, or
because a hard day needs a kind voice. We answer at any hour, and we
have time for you.
This page will grow. We are gathering the counselors, groups, and
reading our families have found most helpful, and we will share them
here soon.
A hard day is reason enough to call
No question required, no time limit on grief. A kind voice answers at any hour.
Call (720) 515-2344 Send us a message

---

# https://www.thenaturalfuneral.com/learn/talking-with-family

Learn · Talking with your family
Words for the conversation.
Choosing a natural goodbye often means explaining it to someone who
loves the same person you do, and sees it differently. That
conversation deserves gentleness on both sides. What follows is not a
script for winning anyone over. It is a handful of honest, plain words
for keeping love at the center of the table, doubts and all.
Before you say anything
A doubting relative is not an obstacle. They are usually the person
guarding something precious: your person's dignity, the family's
faith, or simply the way things have always been done. Begin by
honoring that. You are not trying to be right. You are trying to say
goodbye well, together, and the goodbye will matter more than the
method to everyone at the graveside.
When someone says it doesn’t feel respectful
This worry deserves to be taken seriously, because underneath it is love. Someone is guarding your person’s dignity, and that instinct is a good one. The answer is not to argue it away, but to show that dignity is exactly the point.
“I hear you. Dignity matters to me too, and that’s actually why I’m drawn to this. Every step is done slowly, by hand, with reverence.”
“To me, being returned to the earth, the way every life before us has been, feels like the most respectful thing we could offer.”
“Would you come with me to see the place and meet the people? I think seeing the care might say more than I can.”
When faith is the concern
Faith questions are real questions, and they belong to the person asking them, not to us. Nothing about a natural goodbye asks anyone to set their beliefs aside, and many traditions have laid their people directly into the earth for thousands of years.
“I’m not asking you to change what you believe. I’d love for the service itself to be exactly as our faith would have it.”
“Burial in a simple shroud, in plain ground, is actually one of the oldest practices our tradition has. This is close to that, not far from it.”
“Would it help to talk it through with the pastor first? I’d genuinely welcome that.”
When it’s just unfamiliar
Most of the time, doubt is simply newness wearing a serious face. None of us grew up hearing about terramation or water cremation, and it is fair for something unfamiliar to need time. Time is something you can give.
“It was new to me too, and I had a lot of questions. Can I tell you what I learned, and you can ask me anything?”
“We don’t have to decide anything today. I just want us to know what the choices are, together.”
“What Mom wanted was to give something back. This is just a newer way of doing something very old.”
If the answer is still no
Sometimes a family lands somewhere in the middle, and sometimes the
goodbye that keeps a family whole is not the one you first imagined.
That is not a failure. A choice made with love, in a family still
holding hands, honors your person too. And if it would help to have a
calm third voice in the room, our celebrants and planning team sit
with families in exactly this conversation, gently, and on nobody's side
but the family's.
Would a calm third voice help?
We are glad to sit with your whole family and answer every doubt honestly. No convincing, just clarity.
Call (720) 515-2344 Send us a message

---

# https://www.thenaturalfuneral.com/learn/what-is-terramation

A plain-language guide
What is terramation?
Terramation, also called natural organic reduction or human
composting, is a gentle process that transforms a body into living
soil over several weeks. It asks nothing of fire, chemicals, or
concrete. It simply gives a person back to the earth, the way a
forest floor renews itself, and it leaves behind soil that grows
things.
How does the terramation process work?
The laying-in. Your person is placed in a wooden
Chrysalis™ vessel on a bed of wood chips, alfalfa, and straw. Your
family is welcome to take part, adding flowers, letters, and words
of farewell.
The transformation. Over several weeks, warmth,
moisture, and naturally occurring microbes do their quiet work, the
same work that turns autumn leaves into spring soil. Nothing is
forced, and nothing is hurried.
Curing and rest. The new soil rests and cures for
about thirty days, becoming rich, stable, and full of life.
A return to the earth. What remains is about half
a cubic yard of living soil. You may keep as much as you wish, to
plant a memorial tree or enrich a garden, and the rest goes to
conservation land we work with.
One thing people are often surprised to learn: it is peaceful to see.
Families who tour our Care Center tell us the mystery was the scary
part, and the reality was calm, warm, and even beautiful.
Questions families ask
Is terramation legal in Colorado? Yes. Colorado legalized natural organic reduction in 2021, a law The Natural Funeral helped champion. We remain the only funeral home in the state that performs it.
How long does terramation take? The transformation itself takes several weeks, followed by about thirty days of curing and rest. Most families receive or place the soil within two to four months.
Is terramation a kind of burial? Not quite. It is its own path, one of four we offer, alongside natural burial, water cremation, and flame cremation. Rather than resting in the ground, your person is gently transformed into soil inside a wooden vessel. That soil can then return to the earth, beneath a memorial tree, in a garden, or on land they loved.
What can the soil be used for? Families plant memorial trees, enrich gardens, and restore land their person loved. Under Colorado law the soil is never sold and is not used to grow food for people, and we honor both rules completely.
Is it dignified? Deeply. Your person rests in a wooden Chrysalis™ vessel surrounded by wood chips, alfalfa, and straw, often with flowers and letters from their family. Nothing about it is industrial, and families are welcome at the laying-in.
Can family take part? Yes, and many do. The laying-in ceremony welcomes family participation: placing flowers, sharing words, and simply being present. Some families also help place the finished soil.
Ready for more? See our terramation service ,
what it costs ,
or book a Care Center tour .
Living outside Colorado? Through our
TerraCare Partner Program , we help funeral
homes bring terramation to their own communities.
Curious, cautious, or somewhere in between?
All are welcome. Ask us anything about terramation, plainly answered, never pushed.
Call (720) 515-2344 Send us a message

---

# https://www.thenaturalfuneral.com/newsletter

Newsletter
A quiet letter, now and then.
Our newsletter is occasional and unhurried, like everything else we
do. It exists so that the people who want to stay close to this
community can, and for no other reason.
What subscribers receive
First word on gatherings
Invitations to Care Center tours, community events, and labyrinth gatherings, announced in the newsletter before anywhere else.
Gentle education
Plain-language pieces about terramation, water cremation, natural burial, and the questions families actually ask, written the way we talk.
No pressure, ever
No countdown timers, no sales pushes, no guilt. A letter you can read with your coffee, or not, and unsubscribe from any time without a single hoop.
Joining the list
The signup form is arriving here soon. In the meantime,
send us a message saying you would like the
newsletter, and we will add you gladly, and take you off again the
moment you ever ask.
Ask to join the newsletter
Prefer a conversation to a letter?
So do we, honestly. Call any hour and talk with a real person instead.
Call (720) 515-2344 Send us a message

---

# https://www.thenaturalfuneral.com/planning-ahead

One of the kindest things you can do.
Planning your own goodbye is not morbid, it is generous. It spares the
people you love from guessing, and it lets you choose a farewell that
actually reflects your life and your values. There is no rush and nothing
to sign today.
Start your plan online
Book a conversation
A 15-minute phone call, with no obligation. Or call
(720) 515-2344 and ask for advance planning.
Why families plan ahead.
Your wishes, honored
Whether you imagine terramation, a natural burial, water cremation, or a simple ceremony under open sky, writing it down means it happens the way you meant it.
Your family, spared
The kindest part of planning ahead is what it removes: the guessing, the second-guessing, and the hardest decisions landing on your family during their hardest week.
Your costs, settled
Plan now and you can fund your arrangements at today’s prices, in plain numbers, so cost never becomes your family’s burden or surprise.
How it works.
Three unhurried steps. Most people are surprised how light it feels once it's done.
1 A conversation, not a sales visit
We sit down together wherever suits you, at one of our funeral homes, at a coffee shop, in your own front room, or simply by phone. There is nothing to sign and no obligation, and many people never go further than this.
2 Your wishes, in your own words
We talk through the possibilities together and help you settle the choice that matters most, how you would like your body cared for, then put it on paper in your own words. You can change any of it, any time.
3 Funding, if and when you choose
If you decide to fund your plan, we walk through the options plainly. Funded plans are written as life insurance policies with Funeral Directors Life Insurance Company, not with us, and preneed funeral agreements in Colorado are regulated by the Colorado Division of Insurance. We will always show you exactly what is guaranteed.
Come see for yourself.
Join a tour of our Care Center, where terramation and water cremation
actually happen, or one of our community events: talks, seminars, and
senior showcases about natural end-of-life choices. Many people tell us
a visit made everything feel clear, and far less mysterious.
Reserve a Care Center tour
What families say afterward.
“The Natural Funeral made my experience planning and attending a funeral the least stressful it could be. The intimate service was suited for our needs and compassion of the staff was overwhelming. Thank you, The Natural Funeral.”
Al , 2023 “My father recently passed away and had requested that we use The Natural Funeral for his cremation. We were extremely grateful for the kindness and the efficiency of Jane and Gretchen in taking care of some of the many details that have to be handled after a loved one passes. Highly recommended.”
Karl , 2023 “Words fail me when I think of how incredible The Natural Funeral team is. They facilitated one of the most healing experiences of my life when my mom died. I can't recommend them enough for the services they provide. I am forever grateful.”
Charlotte , 2023 “The Natural Funeral is a place of exquisite personalized care. Through deep listening and attentiveness, they were able to provide us with just what we needed; both at the exact right time and throughout the entire experience. In my opinion, they are number one on the Front Range.”
Kristin , 2021 “This place was incredibly comforting during the most difficult time of our lives. Jane Anderson was truly an angel helping guide us through the hardest decisions we've ever had to make. I highly recommend!”
Mark , 2021 “This is the way for your final event. Dying and living need not be separate - they are both important and spiritual parts of this game. The Natural Funeral celebrates life, doesn't hurry death, and makes sure love, acceptance, and grief is all welcome.”
Kate , 2020 “This company was amazing to work with. Made us feel very comfortable and really compassionate. They just really go the extra mile to honor what you want and just sending little things meant so much.”
Debbie , 2020 “The Natural Funeral and everyone there showed us kindness and compassion and grace in the most devastating situation. Being able to honor our loved one in this setting with holistic, natural care means more than I can adequately express. I will be forever grateful for The Natural Funeral.”
Gretchen , 2020 “Unexpected deaths are very traumatic and difficult to understand and to deal with. Karen and the staff at The Natural Funeral guided us through the process with kindness, caring and love. I highly recommend them.”
Wendy , 2019 “These are incredibly kind, compassionate and supportive people. Nothing but love towards the way they supported us through the hardest journey we have ever been on.”
Mya , 2019 “The Natural Funeral was amazing. I am so impressed by their customer service. Everyone was kind, organized, and efficient. Follow through and follow up were exceptional. Cannot recommend more highly.”
Joanna , 2018
1 / 11
From Google reviews of The Natural Funeral.
Start the conversation when ready.
A gentle first chat, no obligation, everything plainly explained.
Call us day or night:
(720) 515-2344
OR
Send us a message

---

# https://www.thenaturalfuneral.com/planning-ahead/faq

Planning ahead · Questions
The questions worth asking before you sign anything.
Planning ahead should make you feel steadier, not warier. So here are
the questions families ask us about preneed plans, answered plainly,
including the ones about money and protection that people are sometimes
shy to raise. Ask any provider these. The answers should be easy.
Questions about planning ahead
What is a preneed plan, exactly? It is the gift of total clarity for your loved ones: a documented plan paired with dedicated funding to fulfill it. While reflecting on your wishes offers a starting point, funding your plan is what turns intention into security, shielding your family from financial stress and guaranteeing your final goodbye is fully taken care of.
What does a plan cover? Whatever you decide it should. Most plans name the path you want, whether that is terramation , water cremation , natural burial , or flame cremation , along with the care and ceremony around it, who should be called, and any wishes you want honored. Every item is itemized, so nothing is a surprise later.
Is my money protected? Yes. Your funds never sit in our bank account. One hundred percent of your payment is placed directly into a preneed life insurance policy issued by Funeral Directors Life Insurance Company , not by us. Regulated by the Colorado Division of Insurance, your money receives all the legal, financial, and policyholder protections afforded by state insurance law, and you receive official documentation from the insurer detailing your coverage.
Does a plan lock in today’s prices? Yes, for our professional services. Funding your plan through a preneed life insurance policy locks in the cost of our care, ceremonies, and coordination at today’s rates. Because merchandise (such as shrouds, caskets, or urns) and third-party fees (like state death certificates) fluctuate over time, those items are listed at current estimates and paid using the policy’s value when needed. Your written agreement clearly distinguishes guaranteed services from estimated costs before you sign.
Can I pay over time? Usually, yes. Plans can be funded in a single payment or over a period of months or years, and the arrangement is written into the contract. Tell us what is comfortable for your household and we will build the plan around that, not the other way around.
What if I move away from Colorado? A funded plan follows you. What that looks like in practice depends on how the plan was funded, and it is one of the things we will explain when you set it up. If you move, call us. We would rather help you sort it out than have you wonder about it for years.
What if I change my mind? Then you change the plan. People change their minds about this more often than you would think, and none of it offends us. An unfunded plan can be rewritten any time you like. A funded contract has terms around changes and cancellation, and those terms are in writing, in plain language, before you sign.
What happens if the funeral home changes hands? Your plan remains fully secure because the life insurance policy belongs to you, not us. Under Colorado law, if a funeral home changes ownership, preneed contracts transfer to the new owner so your arrangements remain in place. However, because you retain full ownership of the insurance policy, you or your family always have the legal right to reassign the policy to a different funeral home of your choice at any time.
Do I have to fund a plan, or can I just record my wishes? You can absolutely just record your wishes, and many people start there. Writing it down is most of the gift. Start your plan online whenever you have a quiet half hour, at your own pace, without needing to sit down with us at all. The money question can wait, or never come up, and we will not push it.
Can a funded preneed plan help with Medicaid spend-down? Yes. When structured as an irrevocable contract, a preneed life insurance policy is classified as an exempt asset under Colorado Medicaid and SSI guidelines. This allows you to set aside money specifically for your final care without those funds counting toward your individual asset limits when qualifying for long-term state assistance. We provide the precise paperwork required by Medicaid caseworkers or elder law attorneys to verify the plan’s exempt status.
Will my preneed funds have to go through probate court? No. Because a preneed life insurance policy designates its benefits directly to satisfy your pre-arranged funeral agreement, the funds bypass probate entirely. This guarantees that financial resources are available immediately when needed, ensuring your family is not forced to pay out of pocket while waiting for an estate or trust to settle.
How does my family find out about my plan? We securely hold your plan in our records, but the best way for your family to know your wishes is for you to share them. We know these conversations can feel daunting, which is why we guide you through every detail of your chosen services. You will leave us fully educated and equipped to confidently explain your decisions to your loved ones. Please tell at least one person about your plan soon. If you aren’t sure where to begin, here are some helpful words and guidance for having the conversation .
Can I do any of this online? Yes. Start your plan online whenever you have a quiet half hour. Nothing you enter is binding, nothing is charged, and no one will call you unless you ask us to. When you are ready for a person, we are here.
Where to go next
How Planning Works
The whole process, start to finish, and what each conversation actually covers.
Read → Start Your Plan Online
At your own pace, in your own kitchen. Nothing binding, nothing charged.
Read → Compare Your Options
The four natural paths side by side, before you decide which one is yours.
Read → All Our Common Questions
Terramation, water cremation, natural burial, and what happens when someone dies.
Read →
Rather ask a person than read a page?
That is usually the better way with this one. Call whenever you like, and take as long as you need.
Call (720) 515-2344 Send us a message

---

# https://www.thenaturalfuneral.com/planning-ahead/start

Planning ahead
Your plan, at your own pace.
A few gentle questions, in whatever order feels right. Every one of them
is optional, and you can pause anytime. Your plan stays private on this
device until you share it.
Welcome back. We saved your draft right here on this device, exactly
where you left it.
Step 1 of 6
Step 1
Step 2
Step 3
Step 4
Step 5
Step 6
Who is this plan for? There is no wrong answer, and you can change any of this later.
Myself Someone I love
First name (optional) So this plan can speak about the right person by name.
About your person A few gentle prompts. Write as much or as little as you like.
What matters most to them ?
Places or corners of nature they love
Faith or traditions to honor
The goodbye
Which path feels closest today? You can
compare your options
in a new tab, and choosing nothing at all is fine too.
Terramation A gentle transformation into Regenerative Living Soil™ over a few quiet weeks, giving a life back to the earth. Water Cremation A flameless, water-based return. Many families tell us it feels like the softest path. Natural Burial A simple, chemical-free burial that lets the earth do what it has always done. Flame Cremation The familiar path, carried out with the same unhurried, personal care. Still exploring Not sure yet? That is a perfectly good answer. This plan can hold the question for now.
Ceremony wishes Check anything that feels right. Ceremonies can be combined, or kept very simple.
A vigil A laying-in ceremony A celebration of life A home funeral A celebrant-led ceremony A religious service
Anything else about the ceremony?
Practical notes People to involve, music, readings, anything else
If you like, leave a way to reach you, so we can pick up the
conversation when you're ready. This stays on your device too.
Your name (optional)
Email (optional)
Phone (optional)
Your plan, so far
Here is everything you've written, in one quiet place. It is yours
to keep, print, or bring to a conversation whenever you're ready.
Print or save as PDF Email it to yourself Talk it through with us
Leave your email above and we'll have your plan in front of us when
you book. Without it, you'll simply go to the booking page.
Start over and clear this draft
Back Continue
Your plan stays private on this device until you share it. Nothing you
write here is sent to us, or anyone.
The Natural Funeral
A more natural goodbye · thenaturalfuneral.com · (720) 515-2344

---

# https://www.thenaturalfuneral.com/pricing

Pricing
Plain answers about cost, the moment you ask.
Money should never be a mystery during the hardest week of your life.
When you ask what something costs, we tell you, plainly and completely,
with nothing hidden and no pressure toward any choice. What a price buys
here is care: hands, time, and attention for your person and your family.
Call (720) 515-2344 for prices What each package includes
What the price buys is care
Each of our four natural goodbyes is a complete package of care, not a
list of line items. Here is what your family receives with each one.
Ask us for the exact price of any of them, and you will have it in the
same breath.
Terramation
A gentle transformation into Regenerative Living Soil™.
Bringing your person into our care, any hour, anywhere on the Front Range
Several weeks of unhurried care in a Chrysalis™ vessel at our Care Center
Return of the living soil to your family, or donation to conservation land
All paperwork, permits, and coordination, carried for you
Available for an additional charge
A laying-in ceremony your family takes part in
How it works → Water Cremation
A flameless, water-based goodbye.
Bringing your person into our care with reverence, day or night
A gentle, flameless water-based process in our own facility
Time for family farewells beforehand
Your person’s ashes returned to you in a simple, beautiful vessel
All paperwork and death-certificate coordination, handled for you
Available for an additional charge
A witnessed water cremation
How it works → Natural Burial
A simple, natural return to the earth.
Bringing your person into our care and preparing them naturally, never with chemicals
A shroud or biodegradable casket, chosen with your family
Coordination with cemeteries that welcome natural burial
A graveside ceremony shaped around your person and your traditions
All permits and arrangements, carried quietly in the background
How it works → Flame Cremation
The familiar choice, with our care around it.
Bringing your person into our care with tenderness, any hour
Reverent Body Care® available, if your family wishes it
Time and space for farewells, vigils, or a simple gathering
Your person’s ashes returned to you, with options like Parting Stone
Every document and notification handled on your behalf
How it works →
Paying for it, without worry
Families pay in the way that works for them: all at once, over time, or
through insurance proceeds we can help you assign. If cost is weighing
on you, say so. We would far rather shape a goodbye around what your
family can do than have you carry that worry alone.
If you are planning ahead, a preneed agreement lets you choose and fund
your own arrangements now, so your family is never left guessing, and
never left with the bill. Preneed funeral agreements in Colorado are
regulated by the Colorado Division of Insurance. We will walk you
through every word before you sign anything, at whatever pace you like.
About planning ahead
What it costs
These are our package prices, in plain view. Each path comes at three
levels that build on one another, and every one can be shaped to your
family. The direct option is the disposition alone, with our care and
the paperwork, and no ceremony.
Path Tranquility disposition + Reverent Body Care® Serenity + viewing and a service Majesty + the ceremony of that path Direct no ceremony
Terramation $10,000 $11,450 $12,700 $9,200 Direct terramation
Water Cremation $5,200 $6,650 $7,900 $4,400 Direct water cremation
Natural Burial $4,700 $6,150 not offered $3,900 – $4,400 Immediate burial
Flame Cremation $3,500 $4,950 $6,200 $2,600 – $2,700 Direct flame cremation
Prices from our General Price List effective August 1, 2026. Merchandise
such as caskets, shrouds, and urns, cemetery fees, and third-party costs
like death certificates are separate. We offer a $300 discount to
veterans, a 75 percent discount on services for children aged twelve and
under, and we accept Medicaid.
Read the full General Price List (PDF) Call (720) 515-2344 for any price
Whenever you meet with us in person, federal law guarantees you a
printed General Price List, and we always provide it, gladly.
A question about cost?
Ask it plainly and we will answer it plainly. That is the whole policy.
Call (720) 515-2344 Send us a message

---

# https://www.thenaturalfuneral.com/privacy-policy

[DRAFT FOR COUNSEL REVIEW]
Privacy policy
Your privacy, plainly.
Last updated October 16, 2026
What we collect
We keep this simple, because it is simple. When you visit this site,
our analytics use cookies to help us understand, in aggregate, which
pages people find useful. We also use Vercel Web Analytics, which
counts visits without cookies and without storing IP addresses. When
you choose to share contact details
with us, through a form, a call, or an email, we keep them so that we
can respond to you and care for your family.
Anything you send us through a form on this site is stored in the
system we use to keep track of the families we are helping, which is
provided by Pipeline CRM. If you arrived here from an advertisement or
an email we sent, a small cookie remembers which one for thirty days,
so that we know which of our efforts to reach people are actually
helping. It holds nothing about you personally.
What we never do
We never sell your information, to anyone, for any reason. We do not
share it except with the service providers who help us operate this
site and communicate with you, and with authorities when the law
requires it.
Condolences and photographs
We do not ask for your email address when you leave a condolence on a
memorial page. You may give your name, or leave it blank and appear
simply as “A Friend.” Nothing you share puts you on a
mailing list.
Someone on our staff reads every condolence and looks at every
photograph before it appears, so that nothing reaches a grieving
family unseen. Photographs often carry hidden location data recording
where they were taken. We strip that out of every photograph we
display, so a picture taken at home does not carry that address with
it.
Keeping our forms and memorial pages free of spam
Anyone may write to us through the forms on this site, leave a
condolence, or share a photograph, which means those pages need
protecting from automated spam. We use a Cloudflare service
called Turnstile to tell a person apart from a script. It works
quietly in the background: there is nothing to click and no puzzle to
solve.
To do that, Cloudflare looks at a few technical details your browser
sends automatically. Those are your IP address, your TLS fingerprint,
your browser's user-agent, and an identifier for the page you are
visiting. Cloudflare states that these signals are used solely to
detect and block bots, not to identify, profile, or target anyone, and
that it cannot directly identify an individual from them. Their
handling of this information is governed by the Cloudflare Turnstile Privacy Addendum .
Your choices
You may ask us at any time what information we hold about you, ask us
to correct it, or ask us to delete it, and we will honor the request
wherever the law allows. Most browsers also let you decline or clear
cookies whenever you wish.
Questions
If anything here is unclear, or you would like to make a request about
your information, please contact us or call
(720) 515-2344 . A real person will answer,
and answer plainly.

---

# https://www.thenaturalfuneral.com/services

We begin with who your person was.
Every arrangement here starts the same way: not with a price list, but
with a conversation about the person you love, what they cared about,
and what gave their life meaning. The right goodbye follows from there,
and we will help you find it among every natural option, all close to home.
Ways of returning to the earth.
Terramation
Over several unhurried weeks, the body becomes rich soil capable of nourishing new life. We remain Colorado’s only provider of this option.
Learn more →
Water Cremation
This option uses gentle, warm water rather than flame, leaving a softer footprint on the earth. We brought it to Colorado first.
Learn more →
Natural Burial
The body returns directly to living land, simply wrapped and left untouched by embalming chemicals or a concrete vault.
Learn more →
Flame Cremation
A familiar path for many families, carried out here with the same honesty, care, and attention we bring to every service.
Learn more →
Care around the goodbye.
Reverent Body Care®
Gentle, natural preparation of your person: bathing, anointing with essential oils, and unhurried tenderness, never chemical embalming.
Learn more → Parting Stone
A different way to hold someone close: ashes transformed into forty to sixty smooth, beautiful stones your family can keep, share, and carry.
Learn more → Ceremonies
Vigils, laying-in ceremonies, celebrations of life, and home funerals, shaped with our celebrants around your person, your traditions, and your beliefs.
Learn more →
Plain pricing for every service is published on our
pricing page , and if anything there raises a
question, just ask us .
Not sure where to start?
Tell us about your person, and we'll walk through the options together.
Call us day or night:
(720) 515-2344
OR
Send us a message

---

# https://www.thenaturalfuneral.com/services/ceremonies

Ceremonies & gatherings
A ceremony shaped like your person.
There is no script here. Some families want candlelight and quiet.
Some want a bluegrass band and a potluck. Some want ancient ritual,
and some want something no one has ever done before. Our celebrants
help you build the goodbye that is true to your person, your
traditions, and your beliefs, whatever they are.
Talk with us about a ceremony Ways families gather
Ways families gather
Vigils
Unhurried time with your person, at our funeral home or in your own home: candles, music, silence, stories, whatever holding space looks like for your family. Hours or days, your pace entirely.
Laying-in ceremonies
For families choosing terramation, the laying-in is the farewell itself: flowers, letters, and last words placed alongside your person in the Chrysalis™ vessel. Simple, participatory, and profoundly moving.
Home funerals
Some families want the whole goodbye at home, the way it was for generations. Our staff guides and supports you through every step of it, and we are there as much or as little as you would like.
Celebrations of life
A gathering that sounds like your person: their music, their food, their people, their humor. At our gathering spaces, outdoors, or anywhere that meant something to them.
A graveside service beneath prayer flags on open land
The people who hold the space
Our celebrant team is one of the things families remember most: life
celebrants who craft a ceremony from who your person actually was, a
death midwife who companions families through vigils and home
funerals, and a bilingual celebrant so that a goodbye can happen in
the language of the heart. They serve every tradition and every
belief, religious, spiritual, or entirely secular, with the same
reverence.
Families sometimes ask us about an open-air pyre ceremony. It is
available only in limited circumstances where state air-quality
permitting allows. If it speaks to you, speak with us and we will
tell you honestly what is possible.
Imagining the right goodbye for your person?
Tell us who they were. Our celebrants will help you shape the rest, at your pace.
Call (720) 515-2344 Send us a message

---

# https://www.thenaturalfuneral.com/services/flame-cremation

Flame cremation
The familiar choice, held with care.
For many families, cremation is simply the right answer: familiar,
simple, and what their person asked for. We honor that choice
completely. What changes here is everything around it, the reverence,
the transparency, and the time your family is given to say goodbye.
Talk with us about cremation How our pricing works
What makes it different here
In our care, start to finish
The cremation itself is carried out by a licensed crematory we have worked with for years and trust completely. Everything either side of it, the care of your person, the paperwork, the return of the ashes, stays with us, handled by people whose names you know.
Reverence at every step
Reverent Body Care® is available if your family wishes it: gentle bathing and anointing before cremation, with family welcome to take part. Vigils and farewells happen at your pace, never ours.
Plain prices, the moment you ask
No packages that hide what things cost, no quiet add-ons. You will know exactly what you are choosing and exactly what it costs, before you choose it.
Open-air pyre, in rare cases
Some families ask about an open-air pyre ceremony. It is possible only in the limited circumstances where Colorado air-quality permitting allows, so we cannot promise it. Ask us and we will tell you honestly what is available to you.
After the ashes come home
Your person's ashes are returned to your family in a simple,
beautiful vessel. Some families keep them close. Some scatter them
somewhere loved. And some choose
Parting Stone , which
transforms the ashes into smooth stones each member of the family can
hold and carry, so no one has to say goodbye to the goodbye.
About Parting Stone
Offsetting what flame cremation costs the air
Flame cremation uses energy and releases carbon, and we would rather say
so plainly than pretend otherwise. So for every flame cremation we
arrange, we make a donation that plants fifty trees. It is not an add-on
and there is nothing to opt into: it happens for every family, and it is
our own cost to carry rather than yours.
Considering cremation for your person?
Ask us anything. Plain answers, plain pricing, and no pressure in any direction.
Call (720) 515-2344 Send us a message

---

# https://www.thenaturalfuneral.com/services/natural-burial

Natural burial
The oldest goodbye there is.
For nearly all of human history, this is how we said goodbye: a body
returned directly to living ground, wrapped in cloth or laid in simple
wood, with the people who loved them gathered close. Natural burial
simply gives that back. No embalming chemicals, no concrete vault,
nothing between your person and the earth. You may also hear it
called green burial.
Talk with us about natural burial How it works
How natural burial works
1 Natural preparation
Your person is bathed and cared for naturally, never with chemical embalming. Families who wish to may take part, as people have for most of human history.
2 A shroud or a simple vessel
Your family chooses a shroud of natural cloth or a biodegradable casket of pine, willow, or bamboo. Simple, honest materials the earth knows how to receive.
3 A cemetery that welcomes it
We coordinate with the growing number of Colorado cemeteries that welcome natural burial, from dedicated natural burial grounds to green sections of familiar cemeteries near you.
4 Ceremony at the graveside
Family and friends gather at the grave itself, to lower, to shovel earth if they wish, to speak and sing and stand together. Many families tell us this is the part that heals.
A graveside service on open Colorado land
What it gives back
A natural burial asks almost nothing of the earth and gives quietly back
to it. The ground stays living. Native grasses and wildflowers grow
over the grave. Some natural burial grounds double as protected land,
so the place your person rests is also a place that stays wild because
they are there.
And it gives something back to the family too: a real place to return
to, season after season, that looks like Colorado rather than a lawn.
Wondering where this could happen? We keep a guide to
the burial grounds near us that welcome natural burial ,
including what each one allows.
Compare all your options
Wondering if natural burial is right for your family?
Ask us anything, including which cemeteries near you welcome it. Plain answers, no pressure.
Call (720) 515-2344 Send us a message

---

# https://www.thenaturalfuneral.com/services/parting-stones

Parting Stone
Something solid to hold on to.
Parting Stone is a different way of keeping someone close. Instead of
an urn on a shelf, your person's cremains are refined into forty to
eighty smooth, solid stones, quiet as river rock, each one entirely
them. Stones your family can hold, share among everyone who loved
them, and carry wherever life goes next.
Ask us about Parting Stone How it works
After cremation, or after terramation
Parting Stone can follow most of the paths your family might choose. After
flame cremation or
water cremation , the cremains
themselves become the stones. After
terramation , the stones are made
from the skeletal remains that accompany the Regenerative Living Soil™.
The one goodbye it cannot follow is
natural burial , where your person
returns to the earth whole. If holding something afterward matters to
your family, that is worth knowing before you choose, and we will talk
it through with you either way.
Hold one
A stone warms in a pocket and fits the palm exactly the way worry stones always have. Many people carry one every day, without ceremony, without explanation.
Share them
Forty to eighty stones means every child, grandchild, and old friend can have one. No one divides an urn. Everyone simply receives a piece of the same quiet whole.
Leave them in loved places
On the summit they always climbed to. In the garden. By the river. A stone can rest anywhere your person loved, naturally and without a trace of anything unnatural.
Why families choose them
Ashes ask a question many families find hard to answer: where should
they go, and who keeps them? Stones answer it gently. They are not
fragile, they are not somber, and they do not need a shelf or a
decision. They are simply present, the way a river stone in a coat
pocket is present, for as long as anyone wants to carry one.
What it costs, and how we sell it
A full set of Parting Stone through us is $2,400 ,
whatever amount is sent, and that is a little less than ordering
directly from Parting Stone yourself.
The stones take ten to twelve weeks to come back, and Parting Stone
needs at least a quarter cup of cremains to begin. Most families send
everything and receive a set of forty to eighty stones; the exact number
depends on the amount sent, at roughly five or six stones per cup.
To be plain about it: Parting Stone is not our company. We buy the
service from them and resell it to families, which means we do make
something on it, the same as we do on an urn or a casket. We mention it
because you should know that when you are weighing our suggestion, and
because we would rather tell you than have you wonder.
Curious about Parting Stone?
Ask us anything about them, before or after a goodbye. There is no wrong time to ask.
Call (720) 515-2344 Send us a message

---

# https://www.thenaturalfuneral.com/services/reverent-body-care

Reverent Body Care®
Care for the body that carried a life.
Reverent Body Care® is our signature way of preparing your loved one:
gentle bathing, anointing with essential oils, and unhurried
tenderness, available with any option you choose.
It is care in the oldest sense of the word, given by hand, without
haste, with reverence for the person and for everyone who loved them.
Ask us about Reverent Body Care What it involves
What it involves
Bathing
Your person is gently bathed with warm water, the way people have cared for one another at the end of life for thousands of years. Nothing about it is clinical. Everything about it is tender.
Anointing
We anoint your person with essential oils, chosen with care, sometimes chosen by the family. A small, ancient act of honoring the body that carried a whole life.
Unhurried time
Nothing is rushed. Most families find about an hour is right for the care itself, and afterward you are welcome to stay with your person for as long as you need.
Your hands are welcome here
Families are warmly invited to take part, to help with the bathing,
to choose the oils, to brush hair, to simply be in the room. Many
people are surprised to learn this is even possible. Those who join
us almost always tell us afterward that it was one of the most
meaningful things they have ever done.
And there is never any pressure to take part. Being near, or not
being near, is entirely your choice, and every choice is honored.
About vigils and ceremonies
Would this kind of care be right for your person?
Ask us about it, in as much or as little detail as you like. We have time for you.
Call (720) 515-2344 Send us a message

---

# https://www.thenaturalfuneral.com/services/terramation

Terramation · Natural organic reduction
An ending that becomes a beginning.
Terramation, also called natural organic reduction, gently transforms a
body into living soil over a few weeks. It is the most natural goodbye we
know how to give, and we are the only funeral home in Colorado that
offers it, in our own care center, with our own hands.
Talk with us How it works
Planning close to home? See how it works
in Lafayette and
for Boulder families .
How terramation works
1 The laying-in
Your person is placed in the Chrysalis™ vessel on a bed of wood chips, alfalfa, and straw. Families are welcome to take part in this ceremony, adding flowers, letters, and words of farewell.
2 A gentle transformation
Over several weeks, warmth, moisture, and naturally occurring microbes do quiet work, the same renewal that restores a forest floor. Nothing is forced, and nothing is hurried.
3 Curing and rest
The new soil rests and cures for about thirty days, becoming rich, stable, and full of life.
4 A return to the earth
Your family may receive the Regenerative Living Soil to enrich trees, gardens, and land that mattered to your person, or donate it to conservation land we work with.
A Chrysalis™ vessel at our Care Center
About the soil
Each terramation creates roughly half a cubic yard of rich, living soil, about
sixteen five-gallon bags. Families
often use it to plant a memorial tree, enrich a garden, or restore a corner
of land their person loved. Whatever you choose, we help you plan it with
care.
Colorado law asks two things of this soil, and we honor both: it is never
sold, and it is not used to grow food for people. It is a gift back to the
living land, not a product.
See it explained
Our short film walks through terramation step by step, plainly and
reverently. It answers most of the questions families bring to us.
Read the plain-language guide
What is terramation?
Wondering if terramation is right for your family?
Ask us anything. Plain answers, plain pricing, and no pressure in any direction.
Call (720) 515-2344 Send us a message

---

# https://www.thenaturalfuneral.com/services/terramation/boulder

Terramation · Boulder, Colorado
Terramation for Boulder families.
We don't have a Boulder location, and we'd rather say so plainly. Boulder families plan with us by phone, any hour, and at our funeral home in Old Town Lafayette, a short drive east.
Talk with us How it works
How terramation works for Boulder families
1 Talk it through, from home
Call any hour and talk it through by phone, for as long as you need. When you are ready to meet, we sit down together at our Lafayette funeral home.
2 Gather where it feels right
A vigil at home, a service at your place of worship, or a gathering somewhere in Boulder that mattered to your person: the goodbye happens wherever your family gathers. You are welcome at the laying-in at our Care Center, too.
3 Soil for the land you love
Your person becomes living soil over several weeks, then rests for about thirty days. Most families receive or place it within two to four months, to plant a memorial tree, feed a garden, or give back to land their person loved.
“What a tremendous relief it was to have The Natural Funeral at the ready when my mother passed.”
A Boulder family who chose terramation, in a Google review New to terramation? It helps to see it explained step by step. Read our plain-language guide .
Where Boulder families meet us
Lafayette Funeral Home
102 W Chester St, Lafayette, CO 80026
Our closest funeral home to Boulder. It is where we plan together, hold services, and keep the tea on for anyone who wants to sit a while.
(720) 515-2344 · Directions →
The Care Center
6065 W 55th Pl, Arvada, CO 80002
Where terramation takes place, cared for by our own team. It is a care facility rather than a funeral home, and we open it to families on free tours, because seeing it is often the surest way to feel at peace with it.
About Care Center tours →
Questions Boulder families ask
Do you have a location in Boulder? No. Our closest funeral home is in Old Town Lafayette, a short drive east of Boulder. Much of the planning can happen by phone, and we meet in Lafayette whenever you are ready.
Can we hold the service in Boulder? Yes. The ceremony can happen wherever your family gathers: at home, at your place of worship, or in another place that mattered to your person. We can also host it at our Lafayette funeral home.
How soon will we receive the soil? Terramation, also called natural organic reduction or human composting, takes several weeks, and the soil then cures for about thirty days. Most families receive or place it within two to four months.
Can I plan my own terramation ahead of time? Yes. You can begin a plan online at your own pace, with nothing binding, or talk it through with our advance-planning team whenever you like. Start a plan online .
How much does terramation cost? Every price is published on our pricing page, so nothing comes as a surprise when you call. We will walk through it with you, plainly. See our pricing .
Planning from Boulder? We're a short drive away.
Call any hour to talk about a more natural goodbye. A real person will listen first, and there is never any pressure.
Call (720) 515-2344 Send us a message

---

# https://www.thenaturalfuneral.com/services/terramation/lafayette

Terramation · Lafayette, Colorado
Terramation in Lafayette, planned close to home.
Our funeral home sits on West Chester Street in Old Town Lafayette. This is where Lafayette families sit down with us, ask every question, and plan a more natural goodbye, one that returns their person to the earth as living soil.
Talk with us How it works
How terramation works for Lafayette families
1 Start with a conversation
Call us any hour, or sit down with us at our Lafayette funeral home. Someone who has time for you will walk through every option, plainly and with no pressure in any direction.
2 Shape the goodbye
Hold a vigil or a service here in Lafayette, or gather somewhere that mattered to your person. Families are welcome at the laying-in, when your person is placed in the Chrysalis™ vessel at our Care Center.
3 A return to the earth
Over several weeks your person becomes rich, living soil, which then cures for about thirty days. Most families receive or place the soil within two to four months, often for a memorial tree or a garden close to home.
“From the first time I walked in their doors and met their staff, I felt welcome.”
Carrie Zais Davis, whose husband chose terramation, in a Google review Want the whole story first? Read our plain-language guide .
Where we are
Lafayette Funeral Home
102 W Chester St, Lafayette, CO 80026
Where it all began. Arrangement rooms that feel like a living room, space for vigils and gatherings, and tea always on. This is where we plan together and hold services.
(720) 515-2344 · Directions →
The Care Center
6065 W 55th Pl, Arvada, CO 80002
Terramation takes place here, cared for by our own team. It is a care facility rather than a funeral home, and families are welcome to see it for themselves on our free tours.
About Care Center tours →
Questions Lafayette families ask
Is terramation legal in Colorado? Yes. Colorado made natural organic reduction, sometimes called human composting, legal in 2021. It uses no fire, no chemicals, and no concrete, and your person is never embalmed.
Does terramation happen in Lafayette? Planning and services happen at our Lafayette funeral home or by phone. The terramation itself takes place at our Care Center in Arvada, where our own team cares for your person throughout. You are welcome there for the laying-in and on our free tours.
How long does terramation take? The transformation takes several weeks, followed by about thirty days of curing and rest. Most families receive or place the soil within two to four months.
What can we do with the soil? Families often plant a memorial tree, enrich a garden, or restore a corner of land their person loved. You can also donate it to conservation land we work with. Colorado law asks two things of the soil: it is never sold, and it is not used to grow food for people.
How much does terramation cost? Our prices are published in full, so you can see them before you ever call. We are glad to walk through them with you, plainly and without pressure. See our pricing .
Whenever you're ready, we're right here in Lafayette.
Call any hour, or send us a note. A real person will listen first, with no pressure in any direction.
Call (720) 515-2344 Send us a message

---

# https://www.thenaturalfuneral.com/services/water-cremation

Water cremation · Alkaline hydrolysis
A goodbye as gentle as water.
Water cremation, also called alkaline hydrolysis, returns
a body to nature using warm water instead of flame. It is quiet,
gradual, and leaves a far lighter footprint on the earth. We were the
first funeral home in Colorado to offer it, and we still perform every
one ourselves, in our own care center.
Talk with us about water cremation How it works
How water cremation works
Water cremation and alkaline hydrolysis are two names for
the same gentle process. Here is how it unfolds, from the moment your
person comes into our care.
1 Into our care
Your person comes into our own facility, carried by our own hands. Your family is welcome to gather, to sit with them, and to say goodbye at whatever pace feels right.
2 A gentle, flameless process
Your person rests in a bath of warm water with a small amount of natural alkali, the same quiet chemistry the earth itself uses, only gathered into hours instead of years. There is no fire, no smoke, and nothing hurried about it.
3 What water cremation leaves behind
When the water has done its gentle work, two things remain. Pure white mineral ash, softer and lighter than what flame cremation returns. And the essence, a nutrient-rich liquid that is wonderful for plants and gardens.
4 A return to your family
We place the ashes in a simple, beautiful vessel and return them to you, to keep, to scatter somewhere loved, or to transform into parting stones your family can hold. The essence can come home with you as well, to feed a tree or a garden your person would have loved.
Water, doing what water does
Why families choose it
Many families want the simplicity of cremation but wince at the thought
of fire. Water cremation offers the same simple outcome, ashes your
family keeps, through a process that feels closer to nature's own way:
no flame, no smoke, and roughly a tenth of the energy of a conventional
cremation. For many people, learning that this exists is the moment
everything settles.
It pairs beautifully with everything else we do: a vigil beforehand,
Reverent Body Care® if your
family wishes it, and a ceremony shaped around your person.
If you are weighing it against flame cremation, natural burial, or
terramation, you can see all four
side by side . Every water cremation option, and what each one
includes, is listed on our pricing page . Cost
should never be a mystery.
Seeing it for yourself
Water cremation is easier to understand once you have stood in the
room where it happens. Our Care Center tours walk through the whole
process, and you are welcome to bring every question you have.
Ask about a Care Center tour
Wondering if water cremation is right for your family?
Ask us anything. Plain answers, plain pricing, and no pressure in any direction.
Call (720) 515-2344 Send us a message

---

# https://www.thenaturalfuneral.com/terms

[DRAFT FOR COUNSEL REVIEW]
Terms of use
Terms, in plain language.
Last updated July 28, 2026
What this site is for
The content on this site is here to inform and to comfort. It is
general information about natural after-death care and about our
services. It is not legal advice, medical advice, or financial advice,
and it is not a substitute for talking with us directly about your
family's specific situation.
Our content and marks
The words, images, and design of this site belong to The Natural
Funeral and may not be reproduced for commercial use without our
permission. Reverent Body Care® is a registered service mark of The
Natural Funeral, and Chrysalis™ is our trademark. Please do not use
them without our written consent.
Links to other places
Where this site links to other websites, those sites belong to their
owners, and we are not responsible for what they publish or how they
handle your information.
Questions
If anything here needs explaining, ask us .
Plain answers are the house policy, for terms pages too.

---

# https://www.thenaturalfuneral.com/terracare

For funeral professionals
The TerraCare Partner Program
We believe every community deserves access to a natural goodbye, not
just ours. TerraCare is our partner program for funeral homes: the
vessels, training, and support to bring terramation to your own
families, built on everything we learned pioneering it in Colorado.
Visit terracareprogram.com →
TerraCare has its own home on the web, with equipment details, state
guides, and partnership information for funeral professionals.