Kermit, the funeral home therapy dog."Kermit was first therapy dog working in funeral care in the state of Texas. He got got certified at one year old, then we moved out here. He's been working by my side since he was four months old," Unfred said.

Penttila’s Chapel By the Sea Funeral Home

Eric Anderson, owner

1515 Pacific Ave. South, Long Beach

360-642-8885

penttilaschapel.com

LONG BEACH — New, alternative eco-friendly burial, cremation and funeral services are now being offered by a family-owned mortuary business in Long Beach.

The new offerings — including ‘green’ burial, water cremation and natural organic reduction —were introduced during an open house tour at Penttila’s Chapel by the Sea in late June, where owner Eric Anderson and mortician Melissa Unfred welcomed the community to tour the recently renovated business, located at 1515 Pacific Ave. South in Long Beach.

Burials at sea

Burials at sea ($6,900) are considered a more environmentally-friendly than traditional in-ground burials.

A certain distance (three nautical miles) and depth (at least 600 feet) is required by law for burials at sea due to environmental regulations.

“We could do cremated remains scattered at sea, or, if you have someone that wanted a Viking funeral, have them cremated first, then put them in a boat urn or maybe a water-soluble that will float — and set that on fire,” said Un

“There’s lots of neat ways to do it.”

“We can do full-body burial at sea (with Pacific Salmon Charters). The body can be wrapped in a sailboat sail and weighted with sand. We then go six nautical miles offshore, over the Astoria Canyon and the body is dropped in. Once it takes on water and goes to the bottom of the canyon within 24 hours it is part of the natural biome again, meaning the sand crabs get a hold of it.”

Traditional burial

“We still do the traditional options, we can do the full-service burial at a church or wherever they want to go.”

“The most expensive part (of a traditional burial) is going to be the plot, they range from $2,500 to $3,500 around here.”

“There’s also the human composting option without the burial plot.”

Water cremation

“We have our own crematorium (on site) but we take our water cremation clients to facility in Kent. It’s a more eco-friendly version of cremation. The machines are about $250,000 but my hope is to get water cremation out here on the Long Beach Peninsula in the next five years.”

“Right now there’s only one (water cremation) machine in Washington and it’s by third party that usually does flame cremation by a bunch of other funeral homes. We escort the body to the facility and stay with them until the procedure is done, about four hours, then we bring the cremated remains back for the family. There’s no emissions of fossil fuels used. You’re 85% water anyway. The liquid of the water cremation goes back into nature and is reconstituted. The bone is actually PH neutral, so you could actually plant a tree with it.”

To “water cremate” remains, the body is placed in a pressurized steel chamber filled with an alkaline solution that’s 95 percent water and 5 percent potassium hydroxide, according to the Funeral Consumers Alliance of Minnesota.

Alkaline hydrolysis is sometimes referred to as AH, flameless cremation, water cremation, green cremation, chemical cremation, liquid cremation, aquamation, biocremation™, or Resomation™. States and provinces that have approved the process use one of the following legal terms: alkaline hydrolysis, cremation, chemical disposition, or dissolution, according to cremationassociation.org.

There are several reasons people give for choosing alkaline hydrolysis, when available, instead of traditional flame-based cremation.

It is viewed as a gentler process

The process is more environmentally friendly. It uses significantly less fuel and has an overall lower carbon footprint than both traditional cremation and burial.

Some people want cremation but are afraid of fire and see it as a good alternative.

It is a new alternative to existing forms of disposition.

“The body goes in and it’s all controlled by electronics. It looks like urine at the end of it, because it’s amino acids, peptides, salt and fat. Instead of it being all gray and chunky, it’s white.”

“The majority of people are doing cremation. I would say nine out of 10 are doing flame cremation. If families have the choice between flame and water cremation, about 20% are picking water cremation now that’s it’s an option.”

“We have a partner with human composting.”

new, eco-friendly burial and cremation services are being added to a local, family-owned mortuary business.

Other services offered at Pentilla’s Chapel by the Sea are video and LiveStream tributes, ‘Green’ burial, and ‘Natural Organic Reduction

The ‘Eco death’ options include green burial, human composting and water cremation.

Natural Organic Reduction ($6,500), also known as Terramation or Recomposition, utilizes the body’s own naturally occurring microbes to gently transform remains into nutrient-rich soil. The process is conducted in individual pods and takes 60-90 days to complete. The resulting soil can then be returned home to be planted in gardens, house plants, memorial trees, or donated to a Woodland property in Kent, WA to aid in the restoration and rejuvenation of a Washington forest. Plans can be made for the return of all or partial, as this revolutionary method will yield 1 whole cubic yard of soil.

DNA preservation

“We can also do DNA preservation for families, like if something tragic happened and they needed this information.”

“We take a core of the tissue and send it to the DNA bank and they will bank it for the family. They can optionally run the DNA or health screens.”

Misconceptions

“People think embalming is required by law, but it’s not. It’s only required if the family wants and public viewing or visitation and want the body to look a certain way. We can bury people wrapped in a blanket. We can bury people in a wicker basket. And water cremation will be more accessible as it becomes more available and affordable.”

“As long as it’s legal, moral and ethical, I’m here to tell you we can do it.”

Budgeting for a burial

Flame cremation is the most affordable, costing about half as much as water cremation.

“Flame cremation is the most affordable across the board, it’s $1,670 and we can do it here on site. Water cremation is $3,000, because you have extra man hours with the licensed person escorting the person over to the facility.”

Another option for flame-cremated remains is ‘turning them into stones’.

“One box of cremated remains will yield roughly 30 stones, which can be given to different family members, put at your favorite places or thrown at your neighbor (haha).”

New owner

In July 2020 Eric Anderson, owner of the Hughes-Ranson funeral home in Astoria and Seaside, purchased Pentilla’s Chapel by the Sea. Roughly two years after taking the reign, Eric still gets a peculiar request from time to time for the funeral home in Long Beach.

“We’ve had a few people call about doing weddings here,” Eric, 51, recalled.

“I think because it’s called ‘Chapel by the Sea’,” Eric, 51, said,

While not a wedding venue, the funeral home owner said they try to their best to accommodate requests.

“We just want people to know that we’re a small, independent family-owned business. We have a crematorium on site and look to have everything done in a timely fashion. We bend over backwards for families. Every situation is different and it’s more personalized when it’s local,” Eric summed.

Cuts

“I’m not a Finn, but I am Norwegian, said Anderson, originally from Minnesota.

“I went to school mortuary school in northern Minnesota, moved to Eugene a while and back to Minnesota a couple times.”

“I own the Hughes-Ranson mortuary in Seaside and Astoria too, then this place became for sale.”

Daughter Olivia, 21, helps with

“We’re making big improvements, putting new walls up, repainting and installing new electronics.”