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Articles By Merilynne Rush
  • The End-of-Life Doula, by Merilynne Rush, Generations, American Society on Aging, October 2022
  • How End-of-Life Doulas Can Be of Service to LGBTQ Adults, by Merilynne Rush, Sagecare, August 2020
  • ​Describing the End-of-Life Doula Role and Practices of Care: Perspectives from Four Countries, by Marian Krawczyk and Merilynne Rush, in Palliative Care and Social Practice, Dec. 7, 2020
  • Full Moon Funeral, by Merilynne Rush, Ann Arbor Observer, March 2013
Articles Featuring Merilynne Rush​
  • Death Doulas Serve Patients at Home, In Hospice by Gatwiri Muthara, AARP, July 11, 2023
  • What Are End of Life Doulas? by Eve Glicksman, WebMD, February 26, 2022
  • Death Doulas Used to Be Rare; The Covid-19 Pandemic Changed That by Melissa Chan, Time, January 26, 2022
  • Death Doulas Could Bridge Gaps to Hospice by Holly Vossel, Hospice News, November 18, 2020
  • Interview with Merilynne Rush, by Rachel Drummond, Healthcaredegree.com, May 11, 2020
  • Learning to Serve the Dying, by Gatwiri Muthara, AARP, Oct. 8, 2019​
  • Health Careers on the Rise: The Doulas Coaching Patients through Life…and Death
  • Having a Funeral at Home, Not at a Funeral Home, by Ann Zaniewski, Detroit Free Press, January 11, 2015
  • A Matter of Mortality (about Ann Arbor Death Cafe), by Jennifer Xu, Hour Detroit, October, 2013
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Articles About End-of-life Doulas and Death    
  • Milwaukee Death Doula helps clients 'die with dignity' March 2022                                               
  • She Preached Death Without Fear. Could She Practice It? NY Times, December 9, 2022
  • Death Doulas Mind the Gap Between Life and Death, by Donna Baker, athensmessenger.com, October 25, 2022
  • Meet the People Who Ease the Process of Death: End-of-Life Doulas by Anita Rao and Kaia Findlay, WUNC, Chapel Hill NC, April 22, 2022
  • End of Life Doulas – Compassionate Support and Expert Guidance for Your Family Through the Sacred Journey of Aging and End of Life, by Adrian Allotey, New Jersey Advocates for Aging Well, September 12, 2022
  • Death Doulas Used to be Rare. Covid 19 Pandemic Changed That, by Melissa Chan, Time.com, January 26, 2022
  • Is There Room in the Hospice team for an End-of-Life Doula? by Gabrielle Elise Jimenez, TheHospiceHeart.com, July 16, 2021
  • How End-of-Life Doulas Help Ease the Final Transition by Virginia Chang, Scientific American, June 19, 2021
  • Death Doulas Adapt to Pandemic to Provide End-of-Life Support, by Robin L. Flanigan, AARP, July 9, 2021
  • Death cafes, doulas and dolma: Meet the woman bringing dignity to the end of life by Indlieb Farazi Saber, Middle East Eye, January 12, 2021
  • ‘Death Doulas’ Provide Aid at the End of Life by Abby Ellin, New York Times, June 25, 2021
  • Being With and Caring For Those Who Are Dying by Andrea Sherman, Samye Institute, February 27, 2020​
  • They Tell You How to Die by Candice Wang, The New Journal of Yale and New Haven, February 27, 2020
  • How Do You Foster a Good Death in a Racist Society, by Chace Beech, Yahoo! News, June 25, 2020
  • This LA death doula is bringing comfort to the dying and grieving during the pandemic by Kim Kelly, Insider, May 7, 2020
  • Being With and Caring For Those Who Are Dying by Andrea Sherman, Samye Institute, February 27, 2020​
  • The Movement to Bring Death Closer by Maggie Jones, The New York Times, January 13, 2020
  • Doulas Are Becoming Part of the End-of-Life Equation by Hannah Hagemann, Morning Edition, NPR, January 3, 2020
  • The Calling by Lucinda Herring, Parabola, January 30, 2019
  • A Day in the Life of an End-of-Life Doula, from Next Avenue, May 23, 2017
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Articles About Natural Death Care (Home Funeral/Green Burial)
  • In These Cemeteries, Nature Also Rests in Peace by Xander Peters, National Geographic, April 2022
  • ​From Dust You Came and to Dust You Shall Return by Raquel G. Frolich, Bull Magazine, June 2022
  • Saving the Environment and Cash Through Green Burials by Lindsay Kalter, MedScape, April 4, 2022
  • Green Burial as an Act of Faith by Dawn Arauja-Hawkins, The Christian Century, July 6, 2021
  • Put Me In a Wooden Box by Nick Wooten, Associated Press/The Ledger Enquirer, April 24, 2021
  • What It's Like to Have a Funeral at Home by Christina Leimer, NextAvenue, March 24, 2021
  • The ‘green death’ movement: Scientific advances give more eco-friendly funeral options by Emily Gillespie, Fortune Magazine, April 9, 2020
  • Going Green: Why some are letting nature do its thing when it comes to burials by Alex Cooke, Racked, February 24, 2020
  • ​Eco-Friendly Cemeteries? More People Preferring Green…, by Alex Brown, Washington Post, Nov. 30, 2019
  • Kate’s Still Here, by Libby Copeland, Esquire, Nov. 14, 2017
  • Green Burials Bring Awareness to Environmental Concerns, by Allyson Chiu, U.S. News and World Report, 3-4-16​
  • Home Funeral: An Unusual Gift of Time and Space, by June Kellum, Epoch Times, November 14, 2014
  • Ashes to Ashes, But First, A Nice Pine Box, by Jeffrey Piehler, NYT, February 1, 2014
 
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Videos & Podcasts
Featuring Merilynne Rush
  • ​Watch us on WXYZ Detroit Channel 7, February 1, 2023
  • ​End-of-Life Doulas: A Podcast with Jane Euler, Beth Klint, and John Loughnane
  • ​End of Life Studies Interview Series, University of Glasgow, July 2021
  • Virtual Funerals and Memorials: How and Why to Hold Them, EOL University, April 12, 2021
  • End-of-life Doula Case Study, NHPCO ECHO Project webinar, March 31, 2021
  • Circle of Care, with Amy Wright Glenn of The Institute for Birth, Breath and Death, June 12, 2020
  • Death Care at Home and At a Distance, EOL University, April 13, 2020
  • Home Funerals and Natural Burials, EOL University, October 13, 2014
Others
  • Ask a Death Doula, with Lee Webster by Suzanne O’Brien, Doulagivers, January 30, 2019
  • A Husband’s Final Goodbye to his Wife 
  • Steelmantown Green Cemetery
  • NPR with Ellen Goodman and Lee Webster on advance planning
  • Podcast Interview with Lee Webster on the National Home Funeral Alliance, Karen Wyatt, MD, 8.13.15 End of Life University
  • #TalkDeath Episode 5: Who Owns Your Body with Tanya Marsh and Lee Webster, YouTube Qeepr
  • Open air cremation, Creststone, CO​
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Merilynne on the Radio
  • ​​WWJ Detroit, about Home Funeral
  • ​Michigan Radio, about Green Burial
  • Michigan Radio, about Death Cafe
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Books
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Covid-19 Resources
Death Doulas Used to Be Rare. The COVID-19 Pandemic Changed That Article featured in Time
Being an end-of-life doula from a distance during Covid-19 by Merilynne Rush and Diane Button
National End-of-Life Doula Alliance
National Home Funeral Alliance
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Funeral Consumers Alliance
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Green Burial Council
Oregon Funeral Pandemic Care Guide Home Funeral Resources
NHPCO Shared Decision-making Tool During Covid-19
Barbara Karnes hospice nurse educator blog posts
EOL University Podcasts with Dr. Karen Wyatt
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General Natural Death Care Resources
​Threshold Care Circle an excellent planning booklet and step-by-step guide to caring for the body
Seven Ponds website for resources for end-of-life, including home funeral
A Sacred Moment
Final Passages
Natural Undertaking
Caring Connections for information about state specific Advance Directives
Peaceful Crossings: An enlightened and proactive alternative to conventional funeral planning
Natural Transitions Magazine: Sharing Conscientious, holistic approaches to end of life
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Natural Burial in Michigan
Natural burial, also called green burial, involves placing the body of the deceased in the earth in the most natural and environmentally friendly way possible to facilitate its return to the elements.  It may include the use of a biodegradable casket or shroud instead of a metal casket, natural cooling methods instead of embalming, avoiding the use of a concrete vault, and natural grounds-keeping methods like planting wild flowers instead of mowing.  It can take place in a section of a conventional cemetery (hybrid), or in a cemetery that is dedicated entirely to green practices, including restoration of the land. Modern burial practices began in the late 19th century. Natural burial is similar to the way most of humanity cared for its dead before embalming and the development of other recent trends. 

Are the following issues important to you?
  • No cement vault
  • No embalming
  • Biodegradable casket or shroud
  • Environmentally-friendly landscaping and grounds-keeping
  • Native plants and grasses

Most existing conventional cemeteries are reluctant to change their ground maintenance practices, but they might designate a section in the back for “natural burial.”  It’s important to know what you are asking for.  Keep asking.  As more people express their desire, more cemeteries will offer natural burial options.

Cremation uses a great amount of energy (natural gas) and toxins are often released into the atmosphere, however, less land is used to bury cremated remains.​
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Find a Natural Cemetery Near You
For a list of certified green cemeteries in the U.S., see Green Burial Cemeteries in the US and Canada, and for more information about green burial, please contact the Green Burial Council.

Hybrid cemeteries in Michigan that have a natural burial section:
  • Marble Park Cemetery, Milan
  • ​Forest Lawn Cemetery, Dexter
  • Oak Grove Cemetery, Chelsea
  • Clinton Grove Cemetery, Macomb County
  • The Preserve at All Saints Cemetery, Waterford
  • Hebrew Memorial Gardens Nature Preserve Cemetery, Roseville
  • Mount Carmel Cemetery, Wyandotte
  • Ridgeview Memorial Gardens, Grandville
  • Peninsula Township Cemetery, Traverse City
  • Chassell Township Cemetery, Houghton
  • Forest Hill, Portage Township, Houghton
  • Park Cemetery, Marquette (pending)
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“Merilynne met with my family at our home when my grandmother was dying. We’re so grateful that she helped us learn how to do this naturally. It was just perfect.” —Sierra 
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THE DYING YEAR
Merilynne Rush

Ann Arbor, MI
734-395-9660
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  • Home
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    • End of Life Doula Training >
      • FAQs About EOL Doulas
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    • Advance Care Planning Facilitator Training
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  • Consultation
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    • Discussion Group
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    • Meet our Staff
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