County Line Crematory

Vibrant flowers, local art and babbling water features line the paths that wind throughout the 35-acre Littleton cemetery that brother and sister co-founders Doug Flin and Rebecca Holm refer to as a botanical garden and park.On a warm Thursday evening in July, Kristin Scott taught a yoga class on the cemetery grounds, steps from where her husband’s ashes rest in Seven Stones’ community garden. A peaceful smile settled over her face as she meandered among the foliage and blooms on her way to lay down her yoga mat.“It’s like coming home,” she said.Joe Amon, The Denver PostYoga instructor Kristin Scott, center, leads a class at Seven Stones cemetery in Littleton, Colorado, on July 11, 2019.When her husband, David, died in 2017, Scott honored his life by roasting s’mores in a fire pit at the cemetery with family rather than having a traditional funeral gathering with guests in dark suits and formal dresses huddled around a casket.The Douglas County cemetery and others in Colorado cater to a growing population of Americans looking to shirk the conventional customs of death. Experts in the industry agree that changing attitudes about the end of life — a desire for more personalized ceremonies, earlier attention to funeral planning, environmental concerns and a wish for lower costs — are breathing new life into the business of death.“I think we’ve all been to funerals where it’s a very traditional procession to the cemetery followed by placement of a casket or remains,” Holm said. “It’s an incredibly sad, somber event, frequently. What I see is a lot of our families out here choosing to focus on life, not on death. They focus on the best aspects of the person and the wonderful things about their loved one. And we make this a space where people want to be and want to come back.”Helen H. Richardson, The Denver PostPassersby check out a 1937 Hudson Terraplane lined up in front of large tombstones at Fairmount Cemetery during its fourth annual car show on July 14, 2019, in Denver.“Beautiful, sacred spaces”Fairmount Funeral Home, Cemetery & Crematory, Denv...