Memories in Stones on FOX 9 News
There’s a new way to remember your loved ones after they’re gone. One Minnesota company is doing something different for at-home memorials.
Watch: New Invention to Pay Tribute to Loved Ones
Memories in Stones on WCCO
LINDSTROM, Minn. (WCCO) ― For many Americans who have their loved ones cremated the question of what to do with the ashes can be a tough one to answer.
Statistics show that the number of people choosing to remember a loved one through cremation is growing. In 2006, about 30 percent of Americans who passed away were cremated.
Now, a Minnesota couple is taking cremation to new heights… watch: Couple Turns Ashes Into Benches
As seen in TwinCities Business Magazine
Featured in The Star Tribune
Read Dearly departed, yet still near.
August 6, 2007 Press Release
A Bench Made of Human Ashes!
When The Classic “Urn” Just Won’t Do
The steady rise in cremations has Americans asking for new options and Minnesota inventors are setting an unusual “benchmark” for at home memorials!
LINDSTROM, MN (August 6, 2007) — Cremation is becoming an increasingly preferred way to memorialize loved ones. According to the Cremation Association of North America (CANA), 29% of Americans who passed away in 2003 were cremated. CANA estimates that percentage will jump to 36% in 2010 and a whopping 46% in 2025. While some survivors have a plan for their loved ones remains - typically limited to scattering cremated remains in special places or keeping them in an urn “on the mantle” - many are looking for other options to keep the memory of a lost loved one close by.
John Laub and his wife Patti Laub believe they have the answer…
As the owners of Pet Steps to Heaven and Memories in Stones, the couple have created a one-ofa-kind ash-based alternative born of their own customers’ requests.
“We initially introduced Pet Steps to Heaven, a business specializing in creating memorials for pets using their own ashes in garden stones and benches, to help grieving pet owners hold onto their memories - literally,” Patti Laub explains. “As the word got out about Pet Steps, customers began to inquire about the possibility creating a bench for & with their loved ones as well. When I realized they were talking about a human I was a bit taken back initially. But then I thought, why not!”
The Laubs hand-design each memorial bench using keepsakes, poems, stained glass or whatever materials a customer wishes to use to commemorate their loved one. The ashes are mixed with the concrete before it is poured into the bench mold. Each bench can include a glass box encased in the seat to hold keepsakes. Customers can also use inscriptions including the person’s name, age and any other messages they wish to be printed on the top of the bench and along each leg. Bench tops are offered in traditional or curved rectangular styles. Three different leg options are available as well. Each bench stands approximately 17 inches tall, 3 feet wide and weighs about 200 pounds.