When Carolyn Leverett's husband died unexpectedly three years ago, she reluctantly complied with his request to be cremated. She became the owner of a funeral home and crematory that performs about 200 cremations a year.
Cremation is a red-hot business.
In many regions of the nation, and in parts of Texas as well, cultural and religious concerns about cremation are disintegrating. More than one-fourth of all Americans who died last year were cremated, according to estimates from the Cremation Association of North America. That's up from less than 10 percent in 1980. By the Cremation Association's estimates, the trend toward embracing cremation will continue to grow in the years ahead, with one-third of all the deceased being cremated by 2010. In some regions, such as the Mountain West and New England, the percentage of bodies being cremated could surpass 65 percent by 2010.