The plans of what the Midlands Crematorium will look like once completed.
Courtesy of Whitaker Funeral Home
Work has already begun on Midlands Crematorium at Newberry Memorial Gardens.
Andrew Wigger | The Newberry Observer
NEWBERRY — Whitaker Funeral Home is expanding the services they offer as they are constructing what will be the first cremation center in Newberry County at Newberry Memorial Gardens.
“For Americans, more than 50% are already choosing cremation, so we saw a need in our community and our county, we don’t (currently) have a crematory. Part of our philosophy at Whitaker Funeral Home and the cemetery is innovation and we saw a need and we wanted to bring that in,” said Erin Whitaker, with Whitaker Funeral Home. “So, it’s the first crematory in Newberry County, we are pretty excited about that and the opportunity to expand our capability to serve families.”
Whitaker said they have seen changes over the past year in cremation.
“I’m on the Cremation Association of North America board, you watch the trends across the United States. In the southeast and in South Carolina, we are still below the 50% rate as a whole, but trending toward that 50%. Some other areas, such as the northwest and Florida, they have been at 70% plus for decades,” she said. “We are in that rapid growth area here in South Carolina, seeing it personally in our funeral homes and in our community. We are watching statistics locally, it’s trending up, pressing on that 50%.”
Justin Baxley, with Whitaker Funeral Home, said that basically every funeral home in Newberry County is having to work with a crematory out of the county, and they not only saw a need, but also saw the peace of mind they can give families they serve.
“They will know their loved one is in our care through the whole process and will never have to leave this county, basically,” Baxley said.
He added that they started site preparation about a month ago, and are anticipating the crematory will be in place and in operation by early October.
“Our primary focus, right now, is to get it open and operational and operating with excellence, then it would be a strategic decision how we would operate as a business. We want to make sure we can run it with excellence first, for the families we are serving,” Whitaker said in regard to opening services up to other funeral homes.
When it comes to cremation, Baxley said people will have more options. He said there are still the options people typically have like a public viewing and a funeral ceremony, and those are still available with cremation.
“(With cremation) you can have a funeral with the remains present, could be casket remains or could be the urn with the cremated remains. You have flexibility with timing. Whereas traditional casket and burial has to happen within a certain amount of days, in terms of bringing all that to completion,” he said. “But, once cremation takes place, there is a lot of flexibility around the location of events, time frame of events and how long the family chooses to wait to decide on some type of permanent placement of the remains.”
Baxley added that they are in the process of adding options at Newberry Memorial Gardens designed specifically for families that choose cremation.
“So, in addition to the crematory, we will have a place here, our first columbarium (a structure that is made to hold urns) for cremated remains, which is above ground placement,” he said. “Our goal is, if it is available in the realm of death care, we can offer it. We want to be able to sit with a family and our goal is to be able to talk about everything, cemetery placement, funeral home services, cremation services, we are endeavoring to be able to offer everything; so we can be the most convenient alternative for families, in addition to delivering a high level of excellence in what we do.”
For those wondering why they chose to put the cremation facility at Newberry Memorial Gardens instead of the funeral home, Baxley said there were two main reasons.
“One, we truly believe in protecting the historic area of downtown, we don’t believe a downtown historic area is the right place for a crematory. Second, the central purpose of this 23-acre cemetery is serving families that have experienced a death and providing opportunities for permanent memorization. Having a crematory here is a natural fit in what we do,” he said.
From the outside, Baxley said many people will not realize it is a crematory — unless you see the sign. The front part of the building will be office space with a retail entrance, the back part, he said, will basically be industrial space where the crematory is located. Whitaker added that they will have a room where families can sit and witness the cremation, so they can be involved with the process.
“Today’s crematories are equipped with advanced environmental protection systems, in terms of what you see when a cremation is taking place, the only thing you will see is heat waves. The smoke is reburned in the process to make sure the process is as environmentally sound as possible,” Baxley said.
Once complete, this will add to what Whitaker Funeral Home has to offer, which will be the funeral homes, Newberry Memorial Gardens, and Midlands Crematorium (which will be the name of the crematorium).
If you are interested in learning more, Whitaker said it is never too early to start a conversation.
“It is not something you want to think about every day, but it is an important decision. I know there is peace of mind about having a conversation and understanding it more. I say if someone has questions, now is the right time to reach out,” she said.
To learn more, you can call Whitaker Funeral Home at 803-276-5000 or email at notes@whitakerfuneralhome.com.
Reach Andrew Wigger @ 803-768-3122 or on Twitter @TheNBOnews.