Cornerstone Funeral Services & Cremation

Cornerstone Funeral Services & Cremation, located at 18625 SE Bakers Ferry Road in Boring, Oregon, is a compassionate and innovative funeral home that has served families since 2002. Identified as women-owned and LGBTQ+ friendly, this establishment prioritizes inclusivity, accessibility (with wheelchair-friendly facilities), and affordability. The funeral home is renowned as the first green funeral home in the Portland metropolitan area, offering environmentally sustainable options that align with its mission to guide families with kindness and respect.

Founded by Elizabeth Fournier, a leading figure in sustainable funeral practices, Cornerstone operates from a repurposed goat barn set on serene, park-like acreage. Fournier is the author of the Green Burial Guidebook and serves on the Funeral Service Education Advisory Committee for Miami Dade College. The business is built on the metaphor of a cornerstone: the first stone determining the structure of a masonry foundation, symbolizing the foundational role of compassion in end-of-life care.

Cornerstone offers a wide range of services to meet diverse needs. These include traditional burial and cremation, green burial (natural and environmentally friendly), eco-friendly cremation such as alkaline hydrolysis (also called water cremation or bio-cremation), and natural organic reduction—an accelerated decomposition that turns human remains into soil within weeks. Notably, Cornerstone was the first funeral home in the United States to oversee natural organic reduction. Additionally, they are the first sea burial certified funeral provider in Oregon, offering full-body burials at sea that are both legal and green.

The funeral home provides comprehensive care including visitation, funeral and memorial services, witness cremation for families, military honors for veterans, and coordination with organ donation organizations through the Gift of Life program. They also offer an onsite chapel and gender-neutral restrooms. A prepayment plan is available for those who wish to plan ahead. Cornerstone prides itself on offering some of the most affordable prices in the area and works with a local company to provide free cremation for those who cannot afford the fee.

Client testimonials highlight the exceptional support and professionalism of Elizabeth Fournier and her team. One reviewer praised her for going above and beyond during a difficult time, advocating with healthcare agencies and providing free support. Another licensed mortician referred to Fournier as a mentor and commended the seamless coordination for a green burial across states. The business maintains a stellar 4.8-star rating on Google Maps based on 21 reviews.

Cornerstone Funeral Services & Cremation is committed to transparency, offering a helpful checklist of tasks after a loved one passes, a funeral consumer rights pamphlet for Oregon, and access to a current general price list. They are open daily from 9 AM to 5 PM, but recommend appointments as staff are often out in the community helping families. For more information, their website provides extensive resources on green burial, natural organic reduction, and other services.