FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Contact:
Andrew Whitaker, MBA, CMQOE
Vice President
GREAT BURIAL REEF, Inc.
Phone (941) 750-0617  /  Fax (941) 237-5800
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www.greatburialreef.com


GREAT BURIAL REEF, Inc. Founder Lays His Father To Rest as Firm’s First Burial in Living Undersea Memorial Reef

SARASOTA, FLORIDA – April 9, 2008 – GREAT BURIAL REEF, Inc., announces the undersea deployment of the first living ocean burial reef of its type in the world, and announces its first placement: the cremated remains of founder Jason Rew’s father.

Just after the first day of spring, Jason Rew, founder, President and CEO of GREAT BURIAL REEF, Inc., dove 30 feet below the surface of the Gulf of Mexico, cradling the encased urn containing the cremated remains of his late father, Timothy Rew, in his arms.   On a day marked by clear skies, bright sunshine, and the most peaceful day at sea recorded in months, Rew personally sealed his father’s urn in a burial cavity deep inside the first living ocean burial reef of its kind, constructed by his company, just two miles west of Lido Key, Sarasota, Florida.

As Rew and his diving crew made the undersea placement, his family watched the placement from the comforts of a nearby luxury yacht, sharing memories of Rew’s late father.  During the placement ceremony, which was uniquely scripted by GREAT BURIAL REEF based on the family’s input, each family member tossed a single rose into the water from the bow of the yacht, celebrating Rew’s father’s life and achievements.   

 

Rew, who left a career as a mortgage trader with Goldman Sachs & Co. to bring GREAT BURIAL REEF to life said, “It is bittersweet that our first placement in the first living ocean burial reef we have constructed, is my father.  It was my Dad who thought up the name of the company, and I cannot think of a higher honor than making his the first placement in what will be one of the largest living ocean burial reefs in the world.”

Pictures and video are posted to the company’s website, www.greatburialreef.com .

GREAT BURIAL REEF has revolutionized deathcare, through offering families an eco-friendly alternative to traditional land burial.  Reef memorials, weighing 4,000 pounds and hand made from 100% natural concrete, are placed carefully on the ocean floor in groupings designed to serve as habitat for hundreds of marine species within the marine eco-system.  

On an at-need basis, the cremated remains of individuals are sealed in handcrafted American Maple urns, and then encased in a thin shell of natural concrete.  Families watch the placement from a luxury yacht just above the reef site, as divers from GREAT BURIAL REEF descend to the ocean floor, carrying the encased urn.   The divers permanently seal the urn within a burial chamber inside the Reef Memorial under a two-inch thick concrete lid, which bears a bronze plaque with the name and life dates of the individual being placed.  Each Reef Memorial can hold the remains of one or two individuals, and urns can be placed simultaneously, or over time, as the need requires.  Families are provided with the precise GPS location of the Memorial Reef in which their loved one lays to rest.

Andrew Whitaker, co-founder and Vice President of GREAT BURIAL REEF, assisted the diving team making Mr. Rew’s placement.  “We are extremely proud to bring the dream of our founder and his father to life, enlisting the talents of marine scientists, artisans, and governmental agencies, to build the first living ocean burial reef of its type in the world,” Whitaker said, shortly after the placement.  “We now offer families worldwide an eco-friendly, economically-sensitive alternative to traditional land burial, that gives them the opportunity to ‘create life from death’ … to become part of a living, thriving marine ecosystem… in nature’s cemetery.”

GREAT BURIAL REEF has recently constructed its first burial reef just off the coast of Sarasota, Florida, and plans to construct new burial reefs near St. Petersburg, Florida and Naples, Florida by the end of the year.  Future offerings will include sites along the Gulf and Atlantic coasts of Florida, and beyond.

GREAT BURIAL REEF, Inc. combines the traditions of burial at sea with environmentally-inspired technology, building living ocean burial reefs and honoring loved ones by placing sealed urns containing their cremated remains permanently within the reef structures.

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