A dignified farewell

The cremation business was never something John Gribbin had in mind as a career move. Now, one month after opening his business, All Pets Cremation Services in Spokane Valley, Gribbin realizes the cremation business is not as much about the animals as it is about their owners.

“This is the hardest part about owning a pet – the end of the relationship,” says Gribbin. “But it just fits me. The best part about my job is handing the urn to them – they are almost celebrating. Because 48 hours earlier they were really grieving.”

In addition to cremating a client’s pet, Gribbin also gives them the option of placing the ashes in a plain scatter urn or a custom-carved wooden urn.

Gribbin’s wife, Gayle, said that the new business was a natural fit for her husband who’s always been a people person.

“He just loves people – he’s the ultimate entrepreneur,” she says. After the death of their yellow lab, Jager, Gribbin was faced with the dilemma of what to do with the dog’s body.

“I didn’t know what my options were,” he recalls. Thirteen years ago the options were to place Jager in a landfill or cremate. Gribbin and his wife decided to cremate their dog, and when they received the remains, they came in a flowery cardboard box with a tear on the bottom.

“For a macho hunting dog, I didn’t think this was good at all,” says Gribbin. Their dog’s name was spelled wrong as well, says Gayle, holding the old box she retrieved from her husband’s desk.

“I look at it when I need to,” he says. “I try to do every persons pet’s urn like I would do my own pet’s.”

The Gribbins were determined to create a business that can handle the death of a family pet graciously and respectfully. Dani Lord-Flynn of Spokane took her dog “Kia” to All Pets after her dog died.

“It was nice to have somebody care so much about my pet,” she says. Gribbin came to her home, picked up the dog and chatted with Lord-Flynn about her loss. “It made it so much more personal that he cares about what happens when you pet passes away.”

Other cremation services are available. The Family Pet Memorial Garden in Colbert has been cremating animals for 10 years now. But Lord-Flynn especially likes the custom urn Gribbin provides.

“All of us put a word that symbolized our dog on the urn,” she says.