The Delaware River and the ocean it runs to have been the life blood of the city of Brotherly Love. It should come as no surprise, then, that so many Philadelphians find comfort in selecting a scattering service into the great river and the Atlantic Ocean beyond.

But an interesting story has recently come to light out of that city to the north, from the borough of Brooklyn. It is there that two octogenarian twin brothers have decided a simple scattering service is not what will suit them when it is time to shuffle off this mortal coil. 

Van and Carl Vollmer are currently hiring a 12-man crew to help them to circumnavigate the globe on a glorious 2-year world cruise that will find them porting in the Greek Isles, diving the Great Barrier Reef, and taking their three-masted barquentine, ‘The Peacemaker’ through the Panama Canal. But this won’t be a regular cruise by any means. That is because the Brother’s Vollmer fully expect to expire at some point on this journey. If and when they do, the crew will have been instructed to slip their bodies over the side of the vessel and down into the deep.

‘The Peacemaker’, with a pricetag of $3 million, paired with salaries, clothing and food for the 12 member crew, will likely cost the twins in excess of $5 million, all said and done. The cost alone makes this romantic return to the sea prohibitive to most of us. Thankfully, a local scattering service is both romantic and respectful.

It is little known to the public at-large, but 2015 is the first time in North American recorded history that cremations have exceeded traditional burials in people’s end-of-life planning. If you have questions, or if you are ready to begin making your own final arrangements, complete the form above or call the Philadelphia Cremation Society at (610) 756-7557 today!