Nevada: The nation’s cremation capital

Tiffany Brown

T.J. Clark, funeral counselor at Hites Funeral Home & Crematory in Henderson, says inexpensive plastic urns are more popular than ever.

By Brian Eckhouse

Friday, April 10, 2009 | 2 a.m.

The man standing on stage in a Caesars Palace ballroom boasts of another jump in annual revenue, from $26.8 million to $40 million to $53 million and to $58.1 million last year, and the crowd — mostly men in tailored suits — claps appreciatively.

The company’s annual meeting resembles a pep rally and the speaker seizes the moment: The company posted solid growth last fiscal year — 9.6 percent — even if it was far under the impressive 32.5 percent the previous year.

That sort of growth, the speaker continues, feels as good as winning a sports championship. The salesmen nod knowingly as cheers begin filling the room.

This was one happy bunch of cremation salesmen.

No place is more appropriate for a leading cremation company such as Neptune Society Inc. to hold its annual summit than Las Vegas. It’s where Neptune’s executives and sales leaders met last year and again in January, and where they should convene every year.

In 2007 Nevada led the nation in the rate of cremations — accounting for 70 percent of all disposition methods, according to the Cremation Association of North America. That’s double the national rate of 35 percent, according to Shawn Myers, spokesman for the National Association of Funeral Directors.

The consensus explanation among local funeral directors and national analysts for our ranking: transiency. There are few families with generations buried in the same cemetery, and the cost to fly bodies to hometowns can be prohibitive.

Transiency also explains why the cremation rate is greater in Western states (with the exception of Utah, whose rate is under the national average because of the traditions of the Mormon church).

The national average has crept up over the past 10 reported years as cremations become perceived as a more acceptable method of disposition, Myers says. Dion Joannou, Neptune’s CEO, also attributes the growth to the increasing death rate among Baby Boomers, who are less traditional than their parents.

Clark County used to bury most of the dead indigent, but moved this decade to cremations in all cases unless there is a written request, says Nancy McLane, director of Clark County Social Service. The county spends more than $300,000 annually on cremations, a savings of at least $600,000 from when burials were the preferred method of disposition.

The recession may further boost the number of cremations because they are less expensive. Local funeral homes say the proportion of arrangements calling for cremations has increased over the past year. Also, people are selling their previously purchased burial plots and signing contracts for cremations.

The cost-conscious aren’t stopping there. T.J. Clark, funeral counselor at Hites Funeral Home & Crematory in Henderson, says $55 plastic urns are more popular than ever, although the company still offers ones made of hand-cut crystal for $995.

“This just shows that contrary to popular opinion, the funeral industry is not recession-proof,” says Jim Lee, Hites’ funeral director. “People maybe see urns like cars: You can get from point A to point B in a Cadillac but also in a Kia.”