Lessons Learned from Sam McGee

 There are strange things done in the midnight sun

      By the men who moil for gold;

The Arctic trails have their secret tales

      That would make your blood run cold;

The Northern Lights have seen queer sights,

      But the queerest they ever did see

Was that night on the marge of Lake Lebarge

      I cremated Sam McGee.

Robert W. Service’s poem “The Cremation of Sam McGee” tells the tale of two gold miners in the Yukon and one man’s “last request.”  When I was in middle school, I was assigned to memorize a few of its stanzas. The unique subject matter caught my attention, and it’s a poem that an eighth-grade boy actually finds interesting.  As he lay dying, Sam asked his friend “to swear that, foul or fair, you’ll cremate my last remains.”  Sam hated the cold, and he is later discovered sitting up enjoying his own cremation.   

I’ve never seen anything quite that unusual in my crematory, but for me, the poem has a deeper meaning.  Sam’s friend went through quite an ordeal to fulfill his last request, traveling through frigid temperatures until he found a suitable place to cremate his friend, for “a promise made is a debt unpaid.”

How can you ensure that your final wishes will be respected?  In today’s world, you don’t need an amazing friend willing to carry you across the frozen tundra.  The answer is quite simple – authorize your own cremation in advance.  Pre-planning allows you to enjoy peace of mind knowing that your wishes will be honored.  We keep pre-planning simple, and we’ll help you select the options that are right for you and your family.

The Cremation Center of Southern Utah is located just off Riverside Dr. at 1316 S. 400 E., Ste. A5, St. George.  Contact us today at (435) 986-9100.

Submitted by W. Russell Atkin, Licensed Funeral Director/Owner