COLUMBARIUM
COMMENTS
Hear from those who have reserved niches in the Trinity Columbarium.
1
Jim and Jeanne Shumaker
We've been members of Trinity for over 30 years. We decided to purchase a niche because:
1. Trinity is our church home. It feels right to have our final resting place among church friends.
2. It seems that making this decision now will make things easier for our sons later.
3. We're not cemetery people. The idea of taking up land, etc., isn't for us.
4. Spending thousands of dollars for caskets, vaults, limos, and all that goes with a traditional funeral/burial is not how we choose to use our money.
2
Arnie and Beth Ludvigsen
Following careful thought, we decided to purchase a niche in the Trinity Columbarium. We wanted a simple, yet attractively designed location that would be easily accessible to family and friends. The idea of a gravesite plot within a large cemetery did not appeal to us because of cost considerations and environmental concerns. We have been members of Trinity for 33 years and feel this is an appropriate location for our cremains.
3
Tom and Carol Thompson
Several years ago, we attended a friend’s funeral. Following the church service, we followed her son as he carried her urn to the church columbarium for inurnment. It was such a beautiful process. We are happy that Trinity can now offer this service. Our family cemetery is in Michigan, but our children live in the south. We have chosen to have our cremains in Trinity’s columbarium where our names stand beside those in our Trinity family. Our children were raised in our church. Now they will always have a connection to Trinity.
4
Bob and Jane Samuelson
Bob and I moved from Illinois to Lilburn, Georgia in 1974. Back then there were hardly any Lutheran churches in the area. Eventually we discovered a church was being established near us. Those of us who were interested in becoming members met at a play school in Snellville, which was a perfect location, because so many of us had babies and toddlers at that time. We joined Trinity in 1975, and we have been members ever since. Our two sons were raised in the church, were active in the church, and were confirmed at Trinity.
As active as our family was at Trinity, we sometimes referred to the church as our second home. How appropriate it will be to have our final resting place, the location for our interment, at our columbarium at Trinity Lutheran Church. Thank you to Carol Thompson and her committee for all the planning and organizing everything for the creation of a columbarium.
5
Max and Carolyn Yost
When we moved with our two small children, Jeff and Kathy, from Youngstown, OH to Lilburn in 1977, we were looking for a new church home. The first Sunday we visited there were two baptisms, and the sponsoring couples had babies also. That sure helped us make our decision, and soon we joined Trinity. It was a young and vibrant congregation, and we grew to love our new church family.
We moved with a job transfer in 1984 and returned four years later. We looked all over the metro area, but it seemed natural to resettle in this area rejoin our Trinity friends. Both Jeff and Kathy were confirmed here. And Jeff would meet his future wife, Kirstin Myers, in confirmation classes. Fast forward and all five grandchildren would be baptized at Trinity.
There is a special relationship with other families when your children grow up together. It continues as those children and then grandchildren move through their life stages. We are blessed with many of those relationships. We also treasure many more recent friends, younger and older – all of us experiencing God’s grace.
“So where do you want your final resting place?” This is a question that Carolyn and I have asked each other as we get older. How about South Carolina, near parents? Or near beloved Myrtle Beach? Or maybe scattered on top of Stone Mountain? Do you want to be visited? Where would have meaning for our children and grandchildren? Does it matter? We decided YES!
An ongoing constant all our lives was Trinity Lutheran Church. So if there is going to be a columbarium at TLC — that has meaning for our families, our friends, and for us.
So Carolyn and I purchased a niche in Trinity’s future columbarium. We are excited about the beautiful memorial wall and garden that will be built.
If you have faced these same questions, please join us in choosing Trinity’s columbarium as your final resting place.
6
Dale and Donna Sillik
Donna and I are delighted that Trinity is proceeding with the construction of the columbarium and have reserved our niche.
Having worked with many families over the years as they deal with the death of one they love, I have found how helpful it is to inform our family of our wishes before they are caught up in grief. Amid the grief is not the time to have to make decisions and guess what was the wish of the one who died. We chose to be interred at Trinity for several reasons:
Trinity was, for most of our lives, our spiritual home and still fills our memories with many happy reflections. It was at Trinity that we were constantly reminded of God’s love and salvation. What better place to have our ashes interred.
We did not want to make our children responsible for determining what to do with our ashes. Having an urn placed in our children’s hands mean their being responsible for deciding what to do next. We checked with our children and they are delighted that Trinity will be our place of interment.
Scattering ashes has become for many a complicated and sometimes expensive process, banned in many locations or requiring permits for a fee. Having provided our children with a place of interment means it is all taken care of and not a burden.
Should our family desire to visit our place of interment, what better setting that the calm of the Memorial Garden at Trinity?