Trailblazer to the end with first eco-burial
In life, Sheila Schofield was a multi-faceted woman who loved languages, music and helping people.
In death, she unwittingly set a trend, becoming the first Waipa¯ person to have an eco-burial.
Sheila’s daughter Jacqueline Athanasatos said her mother enjoyed her 91 years of life and was ‘‘a bit of a trailblazer’’.
She was always the first to try something new. ‘‘It was just after mum’s 90th birthday we sat down and had a chat about death, funerals, burial versus cremation,’’ Athanasatos said.
‘‘During the conversation I raised the option of an eco-burial, and once she understood, it appealed to her. Mum liked the idea of just melting into the earth as nature intended it.’’
In May Sheila died.
She now rests in the ‘‘natural burial’’ section of the Leamington Cemetery, the first person to be buried there. ‘‘Mum would have smiled to know her marker peg read number one.’’
In time, a native tree instead of a headstone will be planted on the burial site with a GPS tracking co-ordinate.
The family was happy with the idea of an eco burial.
‘‘It was what she wanted and was at peace saying ‘how nice that the birds can then nest in your branches and people sit in your shade’,’’ Athanasatos said.
The eco-burial was a first for Cambridge Funeral Director Stuart Houchens.
As part of the eco-burial process, Sheila’s body was wrapped in a muslin cloth and placed in a biodegradable coffin.
‘‘The deceased is not treated with any oils or chemicals preventing or slowing down the decay of the body by bacteria,’’ Houchens said.
‘‘There is no treatment with any oils or chemicals preventing or slow down the decay of the body by bacteria.’’
The coffin was buried to a depth of just under a metre where the subsoil contains much biological activity, which assists in the breakdown process.