The final frontier: Puebloans finding new ways to memorialize lost loved ones

When William “Bill” Yershin of Pueblo West died unexpectedly in April 2021, his stunned family gathered at a funeral home to plan his final arrangements.

“It was unexpected to lose him, so here we were sitting in this funeral home in Clarksville, Tennessee, where my father was visiting my brother when he got sick,” said Julie Shue, Yershin’s daughter who lives in Pueblo. “We were trying to deal with my father’s death and figure out, what do we do?”

A funeral home worker began talking about Celestis, a company that specializes in launching cremated remains into space.

"My brother Paul looks at all of us and says, ‘Second star to the right and straight on ‘til morning,' ” Shue recalled him saying, quoting the directions to Neverland in Disney’s "Peter Pan."

“He just kind of lit up and it was just one of those moments where you want to ease your family’s grief, so I said, ‘OK, we’ll do it,’ ” Shue said. “Paul said it’s the closest we’re ever going to get him to Neverland.”

Yershin had left directions about how he wanted his ashes distributed and “even though this wasn’t one of them, obviously it fit,” Shue said.

"He made a mistake in his will and said the person he left in charge got to make the decision, so I did,” Shue said with a chuckle.

Yershin’s unique send-off to space, a trip to the final frontier, seemed fitting because had had an “affinity for flight and an affinity for Disney."

"So, it’s weird how these came together," Shue said. "But they did and (the memorial flight to space) just really fits him."

Yershin was born in Alamogordo, New Mexico, but considered himself a Pueblo native. He was a Central High School Class of 1963 graduate and served in the U.S. Navy before working for UPS for 30 years.

“He was an air crewman in the Navy and helped with training flights for pilots who were doing bombing runs during Vietnam. He loved the Blue Angels and he would take us to airports like the old Stapleton airport (in Denver) and we would sit on the hood of the car and just watch planes take off and land,” Shue recalled.

Yershin also was a roller coaster fanatic. He traveled everywhere with the family to try different roller coasters and rode most of the top 100 roller coasters in the country.

“He was riding roller coasters into his late 60s and always loved them. He would joke before he got on a roller coaster that the nitro pills were in his front pocket because he had had a heart attack 15 or 20 years ago,” Shue recalled with a laugh.

Selecting the memorial space flight for Yershin’s final send-off “was the right move to make,” Shue said. “This is a thrill ride and it fits his life for sure.”

Postponements have stopped the memorial flight from happening right away. The send-off was planned for Nov. 30 but was delayed until early next year.

When it does launch, an engraved capsule containing Yershin's ashes will be carried on the Aurora Flight along with other capsules containing cremains. The flight originates at Spaceport America near Las Cruces, New Mexico.

The rocket will carry the ashes 70 miles above the Earth before returning. The flown capsules are recovered, validated as having reached space and returned to the families as permanent keepsakes.

According to the Celestis website, Aurora Flights tend to cost about $2,500, though the company also offers lunar or deep space launches that run as high as $12,500.

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Other innovative ways Puebloans are saying goodbye

The Yershin family is not alone in opting to try something unique and nontraditional to memorialize their lost loved one.

One Pueblo funeral home reported a lot of decedents' families will ask the funeral home to set aside some ashes to keep and use in a tattoo inked on their bodies to remember their loved one. Other novel options include having the ashes made into a diamond or stone or having them incorporated in blown glass and worn as a necklace.

One Pueblo tattoo artist who uses ashes in ink at the request of clients is Michael Preston. He has created tattoos with ink containing both human and pet ashes.

“Ash is sterile and super clean because it has gone through such a high temperature. People will bring in (ashes) of their loved ones or pets,” Preston said.

“I will take a tiny bit of it and since it’s already a naturally black color I will put it in your black ink and use it to outline and shade things,” Preston explained.

For those who choose to get the tattoos, Preston said it seems to help them with the grieving process.

"They are wanting to keep that significant other with them until death,” Preston explained. “Their loved one is with them, running around with them, maybe doing things they wanted to do before they died and they are not just sitting in an urn at home.”

One of Preston’s clients who opted to get an ash tattoo is Kevin McIntosh, of Pueblo West.

McIntosh had ashes of his best friend Roxy, a husky, added to ink for a tattoo that replicates her paw print.

“She was everything to me — you get so close to them because their love is unconditional. I just wanted to have her be a part of me forever and it felt like a way to mentally keep her closer to me,” McIntosh said.

McIntosh, an avid motorcyclist, also carries the remains of close friend who died in a motorcycle accident with him whenever he rides.

“Motorcycle guys have a bell they keep on their bike, and it’s called a ‘Gremlin Bell’ and it is supposed to keep bad things from happening to your bike. I saw this bell you could put ashes inside, so I put my friend’s ashes in it and put it on my bike,” McIntosh explained.

He said he thinks his friend “would love it.”

Turning ashes into a living tree

In Denver, Mark Brewer, president of the Living Urn, worked with two childhood friends to create another innovative way to memorialize lost loved ones. The Living Urn is a biodegradable urn that can hold cremains and, along with soil additives and a small tree, can be planted to honor a loved one.

“A friend of ours’ father passed when we were all in elementary school and at the time, we planted a tree in the father’s honor. Over the years we saw it become this massive oak tree and so we thought, 'Wouldn’t it be great to do that, but also incorporate cremated remains?',” Brewer said. “So that was what we set out to do in 2015."

The group spent more than a year meeting with soil scientists, arborists and materials engineers to figure out the best way to create a biodegradable urn and a system that would work for families.

“The ashes have a pH level, alkaline content and salt,” Brewer said, which is not ideal for promoting growth. The team came up with a soil additive and mulch “that works with that in mind.”

"It’s the only one that comes with a 2- to 4-foot tree. Plus we have two utility patents on the Living Urn,” Brewer said.

The product comes with a bamboo case that is engraved and personalized in Colorado and can be used as the centerpiece of a ceremony.

There have been tens of thousands of Living Urn tree plantings all over the world. Survivors are allowed to pick a tree that will grow in the climate associated with their zip codes.

“We want people to have success with the product and have it grow," Brewer explained. "We offer 30 to 40 trees per zip code per area in the U.S."

Living Urns can be used with an entire set of remains or a small portion if family members want to keep ashes for other keepsakes. Since developing the Living Urn, the partners have come up with several other products.

Scatter and water urns give mourners additional options

Living Urn's Eco Scattering Urns are offered for those who want to spread a loved one’s ashes in nature. The bamboo scatter urns feature a top that opens to allow for spreading of ashes that can then be closed and locked to be safely transported to other locations for those who have more than one stop in mind.

Brewer said he and his family used a scatter urn when a loved one passed so they could spread ashes in Colorado, Hawaii and near Lake Tahoe.

Water buoys are for burials at sea or in water. The ashes are placed in the buoy, which is then placed in the water.

"You can watch if float for a few minutes before the bottom breaks open and the remains are freed into the water,” Brewer explained.

The newest invention by the Living Urn team is the smartphone app “Ecorial," which is available on both Android and Apple phones. The app allows users to mark the GPS coordinates, date and time of an ash release as well as save photos.

“It creates a record for memorials in nature and gives you peace of mind so that you can go back and visit,” Brewer said.

Living Urns range from $140 to $170 depending on the type of tree selected. They are becoming popular as part of “a bigger trend moving in that direction — toward cremation,” Brewer said.

Cremation has been spiking as an after-death service because of the cost and space required by traditional casket burials, he explained.

“It is really interesting over the last few years how many new ideas have come out,” Brewer said. “We are coming out with several other products as well.”

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Chieftain reporter Tracy Harmon covers business news. She can be reached by email at tharmon@chieftain.com or via Twitter at twitter.com/tracywumps.

This article originally appeared on The Pueblo Chieftain: Puebloans find new, unique ways to say goodbye to departed loved ones