What is a Companion Urn?

By: Nathan McKinlay
Wednesday, March 1, 2023

What is a companion urn?

In recent years we have had more and more families asking about companion urns. A companion urn is an urn which is large enough to contain two separate sets of cremated remains or consists of two separate urns that rest together side by side.

Often, one will select a companion urn if one spouse wishes to keep the other’s cremated remains at home until they themselves pass or if they are both planning on going into a columbarium niche. If they select the niche, often the entire urn will go into the niche until the second spouse passes away. Once the second spouse passes, we would retrieve the urn from the columbarium niche, so the other spouse could be placed inside.

If used for a niche, the size of the urn is extremely important as the width, height and depth of the urn can be no larger than 11.5” to fit in most niches.

Companion urns will also be buried at cemeteries after the second spouse passes away.

Leave a comment
Name*:
Email:
Comment*:
Please enter the numbers and letters you see in the image. Note that the case of the letters entered matters.
Refresh
Audio

Comments

Please wait

Previous Posts

Pets

How do we cope with the loss of a pet? As Funeral Directors, we are often asked to give presentations to students and volunteer organizations about many topics, most of them connected to death and...

Infant Memorial Service

This past Friday, I was honoured to be a part of the annual Infant Memorial Service held at Maple Leaf Cemetery in Chatham. It occurred to me that many people may not know about the good work being...

The Reach of a Small Town

The Reach of a Small town It amazes me how connected we all are throughout this beautiful country of ours. Families take root in one community and then branch off to other towns, cities, provinces...

Privilege

Our position as a Funeral Director is nothing short of a privilege. Just as it is a privilege to have a driver’s licence, to vote in a provincial election, it is a privilege to care for families du...

Symbolism in the Wild

A butterfly flutters on by, a hummingbird stops to take a drink of water from a nearby feeder, a cardinal sits upon a snowy wintergreen overlooking the neighbourhood. The moment you see one, it bri...

Photo Reconstruction

It is not unusual for a family to bring a photo of their loved one, where their loved one looks great, but everything else seems to be getting in the way. Either a person has an arm around them, th...

How can my family and friends participate in my service?

How can my family and friends participate in my service? When planning a funeral event, there are various ways family and friends can participate. Here are a handful of ways. Eulogy – For those w...

Do you have a will?

Do you have a will? This is a question that we ask at least one person every day. The answer we like to get is ‘yes’, however, we get a lot more ‘no’s than you’d think. Having an updated will ensu...

Acts of Kindness Around Christmas

There is never a good time of year to lose someone. It can be especially difficult around the holidays. Compound that stress with a savage winter storm and you are pushing people to their limit. Ho...

Christmas Season After A Loss

Christmas Season after a Loss It’s here again, the most wonderful time of the year!  Except maybe for some people out there, it’s not. For those that have lost a loved one this year this will...