The process of dealing with death is experiencing rebirth in a less-religious Pittsburgh

Tanisha Bowman, of the North Side, a palliative care social worker for Butler Health System and a “death walker,” walks amongst the old graves in St. Mary’s Cemetery on March 12, in the Butler County community of Herman. Bowman frequently visits the cemetery and a nearby waterfall to be grounded in nature, connect with herself, and gather messages before her work with the dying in Butler. (Photo by Stephanie Strasburg/PublicSource) From green burial to glass orbs containing ashes, the norms of funerals and burials are broadening as religious affiliation declines. by Meg St-Esprit, PublicSource In Janice Perkins’ final days of life, she let her family know her last wishes: cremation, no viewing; a celebration and sharing of memories; and most surprising to her family, a little prayer. Perkins wasn’t very religious and neither is her extended family.& Her son Raymond Robinson recalls occasionally going to church as a child, but said he told his mother he was no longer interested around age 11 or 12. “So I stopped going to church after that. But she also stopped going,” he said. So what to make of that prayer? The family speculates that Janice was trying to offer comfort to her loved...