For some reason we have been following the story of the lost colony. Advances in technology have allowed the tracking of DNA. The same practice is happening in other parts of the world and a recent report regarding the Bo people of China, confirming their modern...
Insights
The Last Labor of Love: Why We Need to Pick Up the Shovel Again
When my wife Stephanie’s father passed away in 2020, our family made the decision to establish a new family cemetery. It was a time of immense grief, but also of establishing a legacy. During the arrangements, the funeral home asked the standard procedural question:...
The Lost Village and the Open Ground.
Why You Can No Longer Trust the Process My father attended a funeral today that ended in the kind of disruption no grieving family should ever have to endure. It was a graveside service for a distant relative, a disabled woman who moved away and was cared for by her...
The Unrepeatable History of the Tobacco Stick
In the Blue Ridge Mountains, our worth is tied to the honesty of our labor. Our family has honored this commitment across five generations, transitioning from the hard work of the land to the uncompromising skill of the craft. To truly understand this commitment, you...
The Primal Fear of Final Arrangements: Part I
It's a peculiar truth of the human experience that our most profound fears, of fire, of drowning, or of being buried alive, align perfectly with the primary methods of final disposition. This isn't a coincidence. It's a reflection of how our collective anxieties have...
The Unvarnished Truth About Cremation
When people talk about final arrangements, cremation often comes up first. It’s a choice many families consider, and while most understand the general idea, the actual process is often a bit of a mystery. At Randolph’s Custom Caskets, we believe in clarity, especially...





