Has anyone heard where Tim Russert will be laid to rest?

[elegantelliotoffen]

I wonder if his funeral will be in Buffalo.

[Bills4154]

I heard either in Buffalo or DC. I would think Buffalo.

[elegantelliotoffen]

I heard either in Buffalo or DC. I would think Buffalo.

 

If the funeral is in Buffalo imagine the scene it will be here, I'm sure all the Bush's, Clinton, McCain, Obama, and NBC big shots would come to town.

[Dwight Drane]

If the funeral is in Buffalo imagine the scene it will be here, I'm sure all the Bush's, Clinton, McCain, Obama, and NBC big shots would come to town.

 

I am sure they will do a full service in Washington, but the poetic ending is for Tim to come home to Buffalo. If he does, he will be bordering on sainthood. I think I would even go. What a role model. We had a family outing today and we couldn't help but talk about him, and at least on my end, I went back to the basics of just enjoying being there. We all have too many stupid little distractions....but we are lucky to have that Buffalo grounding to fall back on.

[Oneonta Buffalo Fan 2]

It would be nice to have it in Buffalo. Bringing him back home where he can watch all the Bills games.

[TavernontheTracks]

The most tragicig thing is that his beloved father lived long enough to bury his only son , rip Mr Russert

[scribo]

If those making this decision really care about what he would want, I cannot imagine they'd have it anywhere but in Buffalo. The national attention it would put on Buffalo would be a lasting, parting gift to the city that I just have to Billieve he would want to give.

[zow2]

I'm sure both cities will be involved somehow. You gotta figure that living in DC for all these years...his wife never lived in BUffalo..his son grew up in DC. It's prbbaly natural that they have some big service in Washington. I agree that if they truly honor his wishes...he probably wanted his final resting place to be in his beloved hometown. It's dicey though, Since his wife never lived there.

[Pyrite Gal]

My sense is that much as a marriage is for the couple but the wedding is for the guest, so to the funeral is for the guests but the final burial place is for the deceased and their family.

 

My sense is there should be THE significant funeral service for Russert in DC. Be it the national cathedral or some other location where normally services are held for Presidents and other folks who represent the shared national ethos, it strikes me as making the most sense to do the speeches and a funeral service in DC where he lived much (if not most) of his adult life.

 

The body as those that lie in state for a few days in the Capitol before the DC funeral service is then sent to its final resting place.

 

I was really struck by the recent photos displayed in conjunction with the 40th anniversary of the sad event of people gathering beside the train tracks that provided the publicized route for Bobby Kennedy being taken home from LA. If the family wants it, then perhaps a similar train trip is appropriate for Russert's body to Buffalo. The body should be laid to rest in whatever manner he and his family dictate.

 

I know for us when we laid my mother-in-law to rest, her Earthly ending was appropriate for the family. She was creamated and the bulk of her ashes were carried (a year+ after her death actually) to the summer beach cottage the family used to rent each year for a couple of weeks on the NJ shore. Her husband, 3 kids, and their spouses all spent a few days on the shore reliving the old days and memories of her, playing with the machines on the boardwalk and sharing her life.

 

We then took the ashes (graciously stored in a plastic baggie) and went on a little trek through town and down to the water's edge neat sundown. There we released her ashes (and those of her dog Hildy whose ashes resided in a plastic bag in the garage for years) into the winds. I will always have the memory of her skipping down the ocean beach with her beloved dog following behind her from watching the winds carry her ashes into forever.

 

A small cylinder of her remaining ashes were interred just outside of the church she always attended (and where her kid and I were married) and we visit them from time to time (her birthday and various holidays) and her memory lives on for us.

 

If Russert and his family choose for the shell he left to take up space in a cemetary then so be it. He dealt well in words and ideas so it also strikes me as most appropriate if he also is creamated and released to the winds (though his family can secretly stick some at the Ralph and keep some for a possible future Bills stadium IMHO). If a sampling of his his ashes were interred at a holy place in DC with the appropriate plaques for his many friends and visitors in DC and his family to visit this final resting spot that would be great. If another sampling was placed her in WNY for Big Russ and in honor of his connection her that also strikes me as great.

 

I always find it a little odd that folks seem to want to argue over where the body rests as a whole after death when actually from my spiritual background the body is simply a shell and Russert is done with it.

 

The key thing is that he lives on in the thoughts and good feelings he created in a wonderful life. Given that this life touched so many in Buffalo and in DC (and here in Buffalo with his family and with the Bills) my sense is rather than arguing over which one place to plant the full body he is done with, if the creamate him and build the appropriate remembrance places around cylinders of his ashes (the majority of which should be cast to the winds) this would be a fitting resting observance. In the end though, the immediate family rules.

[In space no one can hear]

Article

 

According to the New York Times today:

 

On Sunday, the network was also preparing for funeral services and memorials. A public wake for Mr. Russert will be at 2 p.m. Tuesday at St. Albans School in Washington, with a private funeral mass and burial on scheduled for Wednesday morning. A private memorial service, to be televised live on MSNBC, will be held Wednesday afternoon at the Kennedy Center.

 

 

It gives some info., but not specifically where he will be buried.

[Luvbills]

Since his family is very Catholic, I would doubt that cremation is an option since cremated remains are to be treated with the same respect given to the remains of a human body, and should be buried or entombed. The scattering of cremated remains on the sea or on the ground, or keeping them in the home, is not the reverent final disposition that the Church requires.

[Lori]

Article

 

According to the New York Times today:

 

On Sunday, the network was also preparing for funeral services and memorials. A public wake for Mr. Russert will be at 2 p.m. Tuesday at St. Albans School in Washington, with a private funeral mass and burial on scheduled for Wednesday morning. A private memorial service, to be televised live on MSNBC, will be held Wednesday afternoon at the Kennedy Center.

 

 

It gives some info., but not specifically where he will be buried.

Wake and memorial service 24 hours apart in Washington, burial in between? That timetable wouldn't seem to leave room for a trip to Buffalo. And let's face it: he carried his hometown in his heart wherever he went, but the family has made their life in Washington for the greater part of 30 years.

[Pyrite Gal]

Since his family is very Catholic, I would doubt that cremation is an option since cremated remains are to be treated with the same respect given to the remains of a human body, and should be buried or entombed. The scattering of cremated remains on the sea or on the ground, or keeping them in the home, is not the reverent final disposition that the Church requires.

ESPN OTL carried a piece a month or so back about major league teams dealing with a significant number of recent incidents where fans had taken the ashes of long time fans and to meet their last wishes scattered them on major league fields. In response at least one major league team is setting up a cemetary for interment and several others are now selling official urns with team logos.

 

Does anyone know if any major religions have taken any stance on this practice?

 

As far as Russert's case, what the immediate family chooses to do with his remains will almost certainly rule the day. I know his birth family in Buffalo is very Catholic but I do not know for sure whether his wife and chosen family is or not and likely her wishes will rule the day.

 

Catholicism as a religion clearly has strong and specific doctrine, but recently has demonstrated great flexibility on issues such as dealing with the shortage of priest by allowing formerly married men who take an ongoing vow of celibacy to become priests. Historically priests and even past popes way back when are said to have been sexually active.

 

If Russert wanted to be interred in Buffalo likely the greater impediment to this happening will be any desire by his wife and chosen family to want him close to DC where they are rather than the church blocking something from happening. The Church often is very practical when it comes to some popular decisions.