# Do you have any specific requests about your funeral/burial? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 22, 2003, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-any-specific-requests-about-your-funeral-burial/220542 "2003-12-22T22:32:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Isabelle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b5a626/32.png) [@Isabelle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isabelle)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2003, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-any-specific-requests-about-your-funeral-burial/220542/61 "2003-12-24T19:40:05Z")
I am an Organ Donor. I wish only to have my heart, liver and kidney harvested for another human being. I want a direct burial (which means no embalming) Right from my deathbed to the coffin. There is no sense in spending mega bucks to rehydrate my body for an extra day or so. Embalming does NOT ensure the bacteria from eating you up…it just prolongs the process. The trick is really to just use heavy antiseptic before being buried, cause the bugs hate that smell. I do NOT want a “viewing” or a “wake” That type of ceremony took place in the old days when they wanted to “view” the body to make sure the person was dead. I think medical science has come a long way since then and I am confident if they pronounce me “dead” I will not stir in my coffin. Besides there is no reason for my friends and family to see my eyes and lips sewn together. Cotten jambed up my nose to prevent embalming fluid from leaking. My body stiff as a rock and falsely hydrated with a tinge of color to make me look alive. I do NOT want a funeral since I wish to have a direct burial. Therefore a Memorial service should suffice for the survivors I leave behind. The only two songs I really would like played at my Memorial is: Amazing Grace and I can Only Imagine ( by Mercy Me) I want to be buried in my everyday clothes. There is no purpose in going out to purchase a new outfit only to be placed 6 ft. under. I do not want any jewerly buried on me. I want that to go to my kids. ---
**Author:** ![Ice\_Wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dfb087/32.png) [@Ice\_Wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ice_Wolf)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2003, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-any-specific-requests-about-your-funeral-burial/220542/62 "2003-12-24T19:52:13Z")
Cremation. No funeral service, no flowers (anyone wants to give flowers, give them to the living. They’ll only get burned on the box, and that’s a waste). Just a simple box, the cheapest one, no preservatives, no chemicals, and get rid of the corpse, and the ashes after the bones are pulverised and cooled, as soon as possible, 'cause I won’t be there anymore. Doesn’t matter what we want for our funerals, tho’. They’re there to comfort those we leave behind, not for us. ---
**Author:** ![FilmGeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@FilmGeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FilmGeek)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2003, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-any-specific-requests-about-your-funeral-burial/220542/63 "2003-12-24T19:54:14Z")
I want all usable organs to be donated. The rest of me, if medical science wants it, goes to them. If I’m unwanted after the good parts have been taken out, I like the cremation and sending the ashes with friends and family to be scattered as they will. Thanks. I’m going to tell my family about that. ---
**Author:** ![stormchaser](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c4cdca/32.png) [@stormchaser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stormchaser)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2003, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-any-specific-requests-about-your-funeral-burial/220542/64 "2003-12-25T04:59:17Z")
No real specifics I guess, as long as I’m dead. Just don’t break the bank with all the expensive funeral arrangements ---
**Author:** ![vanilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/f19dbf/32.png) [@vanilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vanilla)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2003, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-any-specific-requests-about-your-funeral-burial/220542/65 "2003-12-25T05:02:39Z")
I’ve always wanted to be cremated (since I was little and saw scary movies about people being buried alive). They will take my ashes,say goodbye, chocolate will be passed out to all attending, and they will play Ice Ice baby. 😉 I am hoping to not die,instead to be raptured. yes,I am serious. ---
**Author:** ![lynxie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e99b99/32.png) [@lynxie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lynxie)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2003, 7:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-any-specific-requests-about-your-funeral-burial/220542/66 "2003-12-25T07:27:34Z")
no enbalming, cremation, pour me in a hole, plant a red maple tree on top then have a party! ---
**Author:** ![flodnak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/838e76/32.png) [@flodnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flodnak)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2003, 11:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-any-specific-requests-about-your-funeral-burial/220542/67 "2003-12-25T11:07:37Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by sultana of slash \* > **You can be cremated after an autopsy. You can have an open-casket funeral after an autopsy. You could even have an open-butt funeral after an autopsy. But you can’t donate your organs after an autopsy.** In fact, only about one in twenty people die in a way that makes organ donation possible, which is why so many potential organ donors are needed. Surely nobody “plans” an autopsy. It’s something that comes up if your cause-of-death is mysterious in some way, like if there is or might be some crime involved, or if the doctors can’t be sure what killed you. Anybody here _planning_ to die by stopping a bullet? (“Shot in the back by a jealous husband” jokes don’t count.) ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2003, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-any-specific-requests-about-your-funeral-burial/220542/68 "2003-12-25T12:55:02Z")
Well organ donation for sure, it is on my driver’s license. Cremation for return to Panama. Also my will provides for not less than $100 for beer for the (Army) funeral detail. Some young slick sleeve will be at the service and with any luck at all will grow into a full-fledged Sergeant Major who, for years to come, will tell people I was the classiest guy he ever buried. ---
**Author:** ![Blackeyes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f6c823/32.png) [@Blackeyes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blackeyes)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2004, 7:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-any-specific-requests-about-your-funeral-burial/220542/69 "2004-01-02T07:21:51Z")
Everyone in Hawaiian shirts. I got that part decided on. ---
**Author:** ![14lisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/1/df705f/32.png) [@14lisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/14lisa)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2014, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-any-specific-requests-about-your-funeral-burial/220542/70 "2014-08-18T05:03:19Z")
In end I would like to donate any usable organs,followed by cremation. at my wake I would like the songs played, Megs Deth Le tout de mone Cat Stevens Wild world and Pantera Cemetery gates followed by a keg at Foxrun. While waiting for the love of my life and I hope it’s a very long wait I will remain with her sealed in urn…This is where it gets interested but I think all should now because they haven’t thought about it or didn’t know…When the love of my life goings me tosame motions will be followed expect music selection. .Shortly following which will be in will we will once again become INTWINED meaning are ashes will be blended called intwinement so we will be forever together. .Small lockets and key.chains with small amount of ashes will be available for family and friends. …Then let there be a large party to celebrate our lives and Love. Remaining ashes will be buried so kids, grandchildren and family, friends can visit if they need solitude and talk…granite bench instead of stone so they can sit and reflect. .married 28yrs now many more to come…Don’t know how many know about intwinment but a great way to be with the love of your life FOREVER…THIS IS IMPORT ANT TO US…THANKS 4 READING ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2014, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-any-specific-requests-about-your-funeral-burial/220542/71 "2014-08-18T05:12:52Z")
Hi to a new poster. I don’t know if you noticed, but this thread is very old. It was started in 2003, so a lot of folks, if still around, will have forgotten about it. ---
**Author:** ![Amberlei](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e56c9b/32.png) [@Amberlei](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amberlei)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2014, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-any-specific-requests-about-your-funeral-burial/220542/72 "2014-08-18T05:20:20Z")
> [@AntaresJB](#): > > Absolutely _no_ open-casket viewing thingy. No, no, no. I do _not_ want people seeing me when I’m dead and remembering me as some body in a coffin. I would hate to think of people remembering me as a body in a coffin, too. I have a “friend” (person from high school who sent me a FB friend request that I mistakenly accepted) who is obsessed with making sure her corpse is beautiful. At least once a month she’ll post something along the lines of, “This is the nail polish I want when I’m dead,” or, “I can’t decide which of these dresses I should be buried in.” She’s not physically ill and is in no danger of imminent death as far as I’m aware. She’s just really obsessed with everyone remembering her as a beautiful corpse. It’s very macabre. ---
**Author:** ![Whatever4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@Whatever4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whatever4)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2014, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-any-specific-requests-about-your-funeral-burial/220542/73 "2014-08-18T05:46:52Z")
Immediate cremation; no embalming; no public anything; scatter my and my dog’s ashes together somewhere other than this god forsaken cultural wasteland and ice box I live in. Somewhere along the Blue Ridge under a blooming dogwood tree would be nice. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2014, 9:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-any-specific-requests-about-your-funeral-burial/220542/74 "2014-08-18T09:04:33Z")
Get rid of my body as cheaply as possible. I don’t care what happens to _it,_ but I _do_ care that getting rid of it not impose a burden on any of my relatives who are still alive then. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2014, 9:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-any-specific-requests-about-your-funeral-burial/220542/75 "2014-08-18T09:58:17Z")
I have specific instructions for the disposal of my ashes, and they are in my will. Ditto my wife. The location of disposition of either is dependent on who dies first. If we go together, it’ll be her site of choice. ---
**Author:** ![PorchePine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/94ad74/32.png) [@PorchePine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PorchePine)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2014, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-any-specific-requests-about-your-funeral-burial/220542/76 "2014-08-18T15:26:35Z")
I’d like to be cremated, and have my ashes mixed into potters clay, and have a professional make bowls, coffee mugs, etc. out of me–which will be handed out at my funeral. Then my family and friends will be stuck with me _forever._ ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2014, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-any-specific-requests-about-your-funeral-burial/220542/77 "2014-08-18T16:37:48Z")
1. organ donation 2. cheap disposal Beyond that I have no burial wishes. A that point I, frankly, will not give a damn. ---
**Author:** ![buddy431](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6a8cbe/32.png) [@buddy431](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddy431)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2014, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-any-specific-requests-about-your-funeral-burial/220542/78 "2014-08-19T00:07:26Z")
Drop the body from an airplane over a population center. I’m thinking Times Square. ---
**Author:** ![Boogly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Boogly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boogly)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2014, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-any-specific-requests-about-your-funeral-burial/220542/79 "2014-08-19T00:55:36Z")
I’ll need a willing accomplice/partner for my dream. One of us has a chunk of skull missing. The other has an axe buried in their skull. This would work better with more volunteers… ---
**Author:** ![ryan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a8b319/32.png) [@ryan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ryan)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2014, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-any-specific-requests-about-your-funeral-burial/220542/80 "2014-08-19T02:41:59Z")
No services. (Agnostic/Atheist) Cheap as possible cremation (frugal) Scatter my ashes in the woods of upstate NY (home area) Have a party. (Irish ethnicity) Move on. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-any-specific-requests-about-your-funeral-burial/220542.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-any-specific-requests-about-your-funeral-burial/220542.md?page=5)