Dedication set for Riverview columbarium

Riverview Cemetery will hold a dedication at 11 a.m. Saturday for its new columbarium.

The brief, non-denominational ceremony will include the dedication prayer by the Rev. Tony Alter, senior pastor of Faith Lutheran Church, and announcements from cemetery board President Mark Schreiber.

In this year's annual letter to individuals with family members interred at Riverview, Schreiber invited them to attend. The public is welcome.

The first phase of the columbarium will accommodate 320 niches, each able to hold up to two urns inside a military-grade metal vault behind a black granite face.

The circular location includes parking areas and Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant access. Ample seating around a central, lighted fountain will allow for services.

Cremated interment has increased by more than 200 percent in the last 15 years, General Manager Tim Theroff said.

The National Funeral Directors Association forecasts cremation will account for 71 percent of all burials nationwide by 2030. 

Already the rate of cremation has surpassed traditional burial in the United States.

The national association suggested reasons for the shift include cost, environment, fewer religious prohibitions and a general change in consumer preference.