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HomeMy WebLinkAbout03/20/2003 - Regular Minutes - Cemetery Advisory Committee City of College Station Cemetery Committee Thursday, March 20, 2003 Central Park Conference Room 10:00 a.m. Staff Present: Ross Albrecht, Forestry Superintendent; Delmer Charanza, Cemetery Sexton; Ann Marie Hazlett, Parks Secretary. Members Present: Katherine Edwards, Chairman; David Chester; Sarah Adams; Mary Lind Bryan. Members Absent: Neal Nutall, Ed Burns, Joe Wallace. 1.Call to order: The meeting was called to order at 10:08 a.m. 2.Hear Visitors: Dr. Richard Stadelman with Texas A&M Department of Philosophy and Humanities was present at the meeting. He will be speaking on item #6. 3.Discussion, consideration and possible approval of absentee requests: David C. made a motion to approve the absentee requests of Neal N., Ed B., and Joe W. Sarah A. seconded the motion. All were in favor, and the motion passed unanimously 4.Discussion, consideration and possible approval of January minutes: Sarah A. made a motion to approve the minutes from January 16, 2003. David C. seconded the motion. All were in favor, and the motion passed unanimously. 5.Discussion, consideration and possible approval of February minutes: David C. made a motion to approve the minutes from February 13, 2003. Sarah A. seconded the motion. All were in favor, and the motion passed unanimously. 6.Presentation, discussion and possible action regarding various religious burial practices: Dr. Richard Stadelman educated the committee about various religious burial practices, and what some religions need in order to worship according to their religious beliefs. He prefaced the discussion with the fact that after approximately 3- 4 generations, each faith does become acclimated to American burial practices. However, he commended the committee for considering accommodating each faith to the best of their abilities. In Great Britain, cemeteries have separate sections for each religion. However, in America, this could be construed as racism. Cemetery Committee Meeting Page 1 of 3 Thursday, March 20, 2003 ? Judaism ?Only reformed Jews practice cremation. ?Must be buried with in 24 hours of death. ?Must have the whole body in order to perform regular funeral service. ? Hinduism ?Hinduism in this community has increased growth approximately 4 times in the last 10 years. (This does not include students). ?Hindu’s almost always cremate. ? A major problem in this community for the Hindu population is there is not an adequate crematorium. Some worry that the crematorium is not cleaned between the cremation of bodies. The other complication is that it is customary for a worship service to be held at the crematorium, and that the father or the eldest son “throw the switch”. At the present time, there is no crematorium that allows this activity, so some people have traveled to Houston for their service. ?Hindu's place their ashes in an urn. In India, the ashes are usually thrown in the river or ocean. However, in this country, the ashes are usually kept in the home, place of worship, or the cemetery. They would like for water to be available in the cemetery because it is sometimes used in a cleansing ritual of the body, and also used for fresh flowers that are placed at the gravesite. ? Jainism - is a variation of Hinduism that believes in reincarnation. They also use swastikas on their headstones, which has been a source of controversy in some areas. Currently, only one family in Bryan/College Station is known to practice this faith. ? Islam (Muslim) - As of now, in this community, most bodies are sent back to whatever country they are from. ?Want a separate section of the cemetery because they would find it offensive to have a cross in their section. ?Cremation and embalming is forbidden ?Washing ceremony at the gravesite. ?Burial within 24 hours. ?Graves have to be properly aligned to face Mecca. However, a problem arises because no one can agree as to where Mecca is. ?Body is wrapped in 2 sheets of white cloth and no coffin is used. ?Grave must be raised 12 inches from the ground. ?People who are not Muslim must have limited contact with the body. When women die, they are concerned about having a Christian funeral director observing body. ? Sikhism - ?Forbidden to have any type of monuments which is considered to be austentacious. Cemetery Committee Meeting Page 2 of 3 Thursday, March 20, 2003 ?Most cremate, but they do have earth burials. ?Quite a few Sikhs are in this community ? Bahai - Must have burial within 1 hour travel of the place of death. They do not embalm or cremate, but here in this country they have pretty much adapted to American burials. ? Buddhist - ?Most cremate (Vietnamese cremate and take ashes to the temple). ?The main concern for people in this faith is the crematorium. The family is to be there during cremation, and at this time, this area does not have a crematorium that allows this practice. ?Chinese Buddhists are traditionally buried on a hillside. The problem is figuring out who is to be placed where on the hill. This is a sign of social status, with the elite on top of the hill, and the poor on the bottom. ?Buddhists also have certain holy days that they visit the cemetery. ? Zoroastrian - Put bodies on a tower to be eaten by the birds. They insist this is the only appropriate way to handle a body. They believe that our American burials are barbaric in nature. ? African American - Want a place in the cemetery to dance. Dr. Stadelman did give the committee a couple of items that he would focus on in making the cemetery more adaptive to various religions. First, have a crematorium to accommodate various religious practices at the site. Next, have a chapel at the cemetery for services that can be able to display different religious symbols. Also, having water available in the cemetery is important. Finally, making the cemetery available at different hours for those religions that have specific dates and times that they visit the cemetery. 7.Discussion, consideration and possible action regarding state statutes addressing cemetery concerns: Ross handed out some state statutes that deal with cemetery rules and regulations. Katherine E. asked the committee to look over those rules and become familiar with them before the next meeting. There was no further discussion on this item. 8.Discussion, consideration and possible action regarding rules and regulations of the new cemetery: There was no discussion on this item. 9. Discussion of next meeting date and agenda: The committee will meet on Thursday, May 1, 2003, in the Central Park Conference Room at 10:00 a.m. Rabbi Peter Tarlo or Dr. Dave will be asked to speak to the committee regarding Judaism and Hinduism. 10. Adjourn: The meeting was adjourned at 11:30 a.m. Cemetery Committee Meeting Page 3 of 3 Thursday, March 20, 2003