Nancy's Story

PicturePhoto courtesy of Nancy Robart
In June of 2026, Nancy's husband suffered a catastrophic medical event that ended in his being removed from life support. A town cemetery trustee, Nancy knew there were no nearby natural burial opportunities. Along with her son, Nicholas, the decision was made to bury Scott on the family property.

Despite a lack of experience with this legal right, local officials followed the process with help from the State of NH Department of Vital Records, completing the filing of the death certificate and obtaining the necessary burial/transit permit. With no local restrictions and guidance from state statutes, the family received Scott's body from the hospital and drove him home.

"Once Scott was with us, I felt a sense of relief. A good friend of Scott's — another Vietnam veteran — joined me to wash Scott and prepare him. I was able to lay down with him in the Sprinter van for the ride home, which felt very natural. I found a cotton sheet...we wrapped him...transferred him from the Sprinter onto a wooden ladder. Nicholas strapped Scott to the ladder and very gently positioned him in his final resting place. We had ashes from 3 of our dogs, so after Scott was positioned — facing the house/sunset — the dogs joined him. We did this before folks gathered at 2pm.

"Nicholas did a fabulous job. Scott was positioned perfectly on the pine boughs. My brother had cut more boughs and placed them around the perimeter of the grave, which really softened the look. Approximately 30 folks showed up. We had two readings, folks introduced themselves, said a few words, and then were invited to pick up a bough and place it in the grave.

"The grave was left open until later in the evening, when Nicholas covered the grave with the tractor. The scene was great with kids from ages of 11 to 3 running around doing their kid thing and adults visiting with each other. I have placed two solar lights at the head of his grave and have ordered wild flowers from VT Natural Wildflowers and will broadcast the seeds and then plant pumpkins  on the lower part of the garden.
 
"THANK YOU SO MUCH NBNH for all the help you gave us as we made our way through this process. I credit my current peace of mind to having Scott at home and in my line of sight! Both Nicholas and I feel so grateful that we were able to give Scott the care he deserves and wanted at this time in his life."