Burial or Cremation?
During your first contact with us, the funeral director will ask you whether the person who has died wished to be buried or cremated. The choice – burial or cremation – determines which kind of medical certificate we are legally required to obtain.
Burial
We can arrange all the details for the final resting place, either within the Gisborne area, or in other centres.
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There are 12 public cemeteries in Gisborne administered by the Gisborne District Council. The main cemetery, Taruheru, is located in Nelson Road. The council maintains an extensive online database of cemetery records, accessible here:
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In addition to the public cemeteries, there are a large number of private cemeteries or urupa throughout the district. These are generally administered by family or hapu trusts, and records are privately maintained.
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Cemeteries generally allow two interments in the same plot, so you may wish to decide on single or double depth as part of the funeral arrangements.
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In many cemeteries you will also have a choice of lowering the casket into the grave using either an automated lowering device, or manually with ropes.
Flexible packages to meet your needs
FROM $2993
Cremation
In New Zealand, cremation is now a widely accepted alternative to burial.
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Evans Funeral Services own the Gisborne Crematorium, and attend to all the formalities for cremation. The cremation will generally take place on the day of the funeral and the ashes become available in 24 hours.The family can then decide what will happen with the ashes – they can be scattered, buried or divided - by us, or by the family. Ashes can be interred in an existing family plot, or in a specially designated area of a cemetery, with a memorial plaque. We can also assist in sending ashes to other destinations in New Zealand and overseas.
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Key information on cremation
Only one cremation takes place at a time: one casket and one person cremated. This means you can be assured that the cremated ashes are only those of your loved one.
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Every person is cremated in a casket – due to the nature of the process all the wood completely disappears and the ashes returned are purely human remains. A casket is cremated as you see it; here we remove the handles prior to cremation to assist with control of emissions.
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You may have seen the wording, ‘followed by private cremation’ in funeral notices. This refers to the time when the hearse moves off from the funeral service accompanied by the funeral director only, or with invited family and friends.