The Green Reaper

<p><strong>When Elizabeth Fournier was eight her mother and grandparents died. She spent a lot of time in funeral homes as a kid since her family were frequently found in caskets. Fournier family members didn’t have the best longevity record.</strong></p><p>As a young girl Elizabeth found cemeteries a place of peace and tranquility. As a teen she’d attend funerals of people she didn’t know. Not surprisingly she eventually headed into the local funeral home and asked for a job any job. She landed the position of live-in night keeper where she resided in a trailer in the far reaches of a large hilly cemetery. She slept with a shotgun near her bed experiencing the scariest summer of her life.</p><p>In her memoir Elizabeth Fournier writes about her calling to the funeral industry and how her early struggles helped shape her life ministry: taking care of the dead and preparing more meaningful burials.</p><p>As a one-woman funeral service in the rural town of Boring Oregon Mortician Elizabeth Fournier supports old-school burial practices that are kinder to humans and the Earth. She has been called “The Green Reaper” for her passionate advocacy of green burial.</p><p>As an undertaker she is always ready to lend a hand or a shovel.</p>