Not far from bustling Austin, Texas in quiet Cedar Creek, is a very special place where loved ones can be buried among the wildflowers that Texas is so well known for. Eloise Woods Community Natural Burial Park is a serene spot where “green burials” for both people and pets take place.
As far as cemeteries go, the park is relatively small at 10 acres, but its portfolio of services offers a big punch for those in search of natural options to traditional burial. Families can opt to hand-dig their loved one’s burial site, be buried with their pet, or scatter ashes at the Soaring Hawk Garden. No embalming is allowed and only flat field stones are used to mark the graves. Prices are well below those for traditional cemeteries and infants are plots for infants are provided at no cost.
Ellen McDonald, the park’s owner, named the Burial Park for her grandmother, Eloise Brown Sutin. Ms. Sutin died at an early age while collecting rocks for her garden. While McDonald didn’t know her grandmother, she believes she is honoring her each time she lays a stone marker in the cemetery.
Eloise Woods Community Natural Burial Park was established in the fall of 2010 and is privately owned by Ellie’s Green Burials, LLC. Ellen Macdonald owns and manages the park. Ellen would like to share her vision of a beautiful woodland burial ground with others in the Austin Community. She named the park after her grandmother, Eloise Brown Sutin… Read more
The most famous coroner on earth may well be Dr. Thomas Tsunetomi Noguchi, who was…
The day after Halloween, and the day after that, is Day of the Dead, and…
Following on his recent posts regarding deaths by extreme heat, Justin Nobel shares his thoughts…
Few parts of the country have been spared from July's soaring temperatures. In fact, July…
Deep inside a South African cave called Rising Star, scientists have made an incredible discovery—a…
Last week, in Nakano City, Japan, an evacuation center was opened in the gymnasium of…