Beyond the Obituary Renaissance Funeral Home and Cremation Service Raleigh NC

Green burial is a respectful disposition of the dead without undue burden on the living. It allows nature to take care of us like it has for thousands and thousands of years. For some, it can be a part of a beautiful celebration of life. For others, it's a little strange. Today, Anne Weston from the Green Burial Project, along with Joe Smolenski and Heather Hill from Renaissance Funeral Home, talk all about green burial.

Have you ever thought about donating your body so scientists and students could learn more about anatomy, diseases, and how to take care of humanity? Gwendolyn Keith is the Program Coordinator of the Anatomical Gifts Program at Duke University School of Medicine, and she comes on to tell us all about how Anatomical Gifting works.

Have you ever wondered how to become a funeral director? What's required for a job that seems to be part family therapist and part coroner? On today's episode, host Joe Smolenski talks to Amie Sexton and Heather Hill, funeral directors at Renaissance Funeral Home and Crematory and recent graduates of the Fayetteville Tech Funeral Service Education program.

Organ and tissue donation is something that you've probably heard about. Maybe you're listed as an organ donor on your driver's license. Maybe you saw that episode of Grey's Anatomy or another hospital show where someone's life was saved by an organ donor. But how does it all work? And what's the difference between organ and tissue donation. Taylor Anderton from Carolina Donor Services gives us the answers.

Today we’re going to dig deeper into the industry of death because there are many questions that most of us are afraid to ask but we’ve always been at least a little curious about. Joe Smolenski, Vice President of Renaissance Funeral Home in Raleigh North Carolina and Renaissance funeral director Heather Hill come on to answer your questions about what life is like at the funeral home, and what exactly happens in a crematory.

Beyond the Obituary is hosted by Jason Gillikin (for this episode anyway) and is a production of Earfluence.

On this podcast from Renaissance Funeral Home in Raleigh North Carolina, we go beyond the obituary to get a better sense of who those people were who have passed on. What were some of the stories that define them? We’ll hear from the people who loved them because they are so much more than a one-page obituary.

Today we’re doing something a little different, as we have the opportunity to talk to someone who is still with us in this life.
Rob Morrell is a retired physician from Raleigh North Carolina who has been fighting a terminal cancer diagnosis for almost 10 years. He’s not so sure how much longer he has, so he and his family wanted to be able to share his story – at least some of it anyway – on this podcast. Rob and his wife Maureen are parents to three adult boys and now four grandchildren. And today we’re joined by Rob, Maureen, and his son Michael, and we get to hear what the diagnosis was like for everyone involved, if there are any bucket list items – again for everyone – before Rob passes on, and how Rob hopes to be remembered.


Beyond the Obituary is hosted, edited, and produced by Jason Gillikin for Earfluence.