Aloft on fireworks, ballons, cremated ashes 'urn' notoriety

VANCOUVER, Canada (AFP) - In a blaze of glory, the ashes of broadcaster Frank Fong hurtled heavenwards, watched by 1.4 million people at an annual firework extravaganza on the beaches of Vancouver.

"Then, bang, he went out with one," Fong's friend John Ashbridge said.

Ashbridge arranged to have Fong's remains packed into a rocket as a tribute to his friend who died suddenly of heart failure, aged 36.

"Frank was a big fan of the fireworks. He would have loved it," Ashbridge told the Vancouver Sun newspaper.

But Fong's flashy end is hardly unique in a city which will this week earn, or "urn" a reputation as a haven for those bent on finding unusual ways to send off their dearly departed.

Some 800 cremation directors are flocking to the western Canadian city nestled between mountain peaks and the Pacific Ocean, for a trade show opening Wednesday.

Hot air balloon specialists will pitch rides for the newly departed -- at 30,000 feet (9,100 meters), the balloon bursts, sending cremated remains floating in the wind.

Was your lost loved one a real gem? Well, some US firms expected here are offering to turn ashes into small synthetic yellow diamonds or other jewelry to be worn around the neck or wrist as a constant reminder.

One Toronto company even splashes cremated remains onto a canvass, making death imitate art.

Also at the trade show will be the Houston, Texas-based company that shot Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry's ashes into space inside a small cylinder attached to a rocket, sending him boldly where no man has gone before.

For the environmentally aware, a Florida firm mixes vestiges into concrete balls, then drops them deep into the ocean to create artificial reefs.

"People want to do their own thing nowadays, not what everybody else is doing, even in death," said Jack Springer, head of the Chicago-based Cremation Association of North America.

Religion has become less important to many people and traditional funerals are seen as out of date, but they still want to attach meaning to their deaths or be remembered fondly. They opt for something more grand than being taken home by relatives and left to linger on a fireplace mantel for eternity, he said.

The association prints a brochure for mourners called "Cremation is not the End," outlining a variety of options for handling six to nine pounds of cremated remains.

Peculiar memorials still number only a small fraction of the total 700,000 cremations conducted annually in North America.

But unorthodox sendoffs are quickly gaining popularity, partly fueled by funeral directors eager to grow their business, but also an erosion in social stigmas linked to talking about death.

Despite the options available to the deceased nowadays, nearly five percent of cremated remains are never picked up. Typically, funeral homes will store them in a closet.