Whispering Hills

Finding Solace at Whispering Hills

By Paul Sims | Photos by Lee Cathey, Multi-Image Studio Inc | Graphic Design by Courtney Mueller

Families across the Southeast find a lasting connection with natural cemetery in LaGrange.

Ralph Howard and his sister Jean found a way to protect the land that means so much to their family – turning 140 acres they first explored as kids 70 years ago into a memorial nature preserve, featuring a 20-acre state-certified natural green cemetery, they named Whispering Hills.

The beautiful forest, streams, and

meadows here have become just as cherished by families across the Southeast who’ve chosen Whispering Hills as a final resting place for themselves or loved ones passed.

Finding that Special Resting Place

“We weren’t sure where my brother Kyle’s final resting place would be, but we knew it had to be someplace very special, a place that would have left him speechless,” said Caitlin Freeman of LaGrange, whose

youngest brother Kyle Czarnonycz passed away in May of last year at the age of 28.

Following Kyle’s death, Caitlin and her mom Teresa learned of Whispering Hills and toured the preserve and green cemetery. “We saw a part in the woods, with beautiful rocks and moss, and I looked at mom and said that’s it, this is where he’s supposed to be. It absolutely took our breath away,” Freeman said.

Freeman is so thankful she and her

Ralph Howard and his sister Jean Howard have selected a favorite location for their eventual resting place

brother spoke freely about what they wanted in a final resting place when their time came. “Because it wasn’t too long after that conversation, we had to make that choice for him. Kyle found beauty in everyone and everything, and he certainly would find it here.”

Coincidentally, Kyle’s girlfriend, Anna McNamee, lives close to Whispering Hills. “I often walk the trails through the preserve and green cemetery, and feel close to him and nature,” McNamee said.

Boyd Taylor, a longtime friend of the Howard’s, first toured the property with Ralph as he seriously considered plans for a green cemetery on the property in 2019. Two years later, one of Boyd’s final requests before his death in April 2021 was to see Whispering Hills.

“Boyd pointed at the spot where he’s buried now. That’s exactly where he wanted to be in this incredibly beautiful forest,” Sherry Taylor recalled of her husband of 57 years. “He always told me and our daughter that he’d much rather we visit him among the trees and streams, not the headstones at a traditional cemetery.”

Families who’ve chosen Whispering Hills select a native stone from the preserve to mark their resting place with a special engraved tribute. “And one day when it’s my time to go to Heaven, I’ll have a rock there in that special place with my name on it,” said Taylor.

A Homecoming Closer to Home

19-year-old Shiloh Perry recently visited her grandfather Harold “Whit” Whitman’s gravesite here with her mom and dad, Amy and Jack Perry, who along with Whit’s wife Anita decided to donate their family’s plots at a traditional cemetery and purchase natural burial rights at Whispering Hills.

“I would much rather visit my grandfather in a peaceful place like this surrounded by meadows filled with flowers and a forest with beech trees like the ones he enjoyed on our land at home near Columbus,” Shiloh said.

“My dad often told us that when he left us he wanted to be returned to the earth in a simple pine box among the trees in a peaceful place – Whispering Hills is that place,” Amy Perry said.

Perry recalls her mom and dad reading about greener, simpler alternatives to traditional cemeteries, “but those options were always located in faraway places,” she noted. “Thanks so much to the Howards and the caring and warm staff here for fulfilling my dad’s wishes, our family’s wishes for a more beautiful way to celebrate his life in a place where we find solace – a homecoming with each visit that’s closer to home.”

Sherry Taylor at husband Boyd’s gravesite at Whispering Hills

An engraved native stone and a photograph mark Kyle Czarnonycz’s special resting place

A Labor of Love

Jeffrey Higgins of Higgins Funeral Home in LaGrange, Georgia, has seen interest in the green cemetery and burial movement grow as families look for a more meaningful way to pay tribute to their loved ones. Whispering Hills is one of three green cemeteries in Georgia, while the number of green cemeteries has grown to more than 350 in the U.S. and Canada.

“The services are so very special here at Whispering Hills. It’s really hard to capture in words, you just have to experience it,” said Higgins. “It’s more natural, more of an ashes to ashes approach. It feels like what we should be doing, and I don’t know that I would have ever experienced it without

Ralph Howard and Whispering Hills.”

Higgins is among a number of area funeral directors who see the opportunity to offer green burial options to families. “Ralph and the Howard family could have easily sold this beautiful land to developers, but instead they brought this green cemetery and nature preserve and all the good it represents to our community,” he said.

“It has been a labor of love, and there’s no doubt this place will serve local families as well as families from across the Southeast and beyond for generations to come.”

Ralph Howard admits he was only trying to protect his family’s cherished land from the encroachment pushing north from LaGrange. “As it turns out, we have

protected this land for so much more than I ever thought possible,” said Howard.

Howard meets and greets people who’ve come to Whispering Hills in search of a better way to prepare for and celebrate the end of life in a place full of life. He’s grateful for the incredible response to this green cemetery and nature preserve.

“It’s so fulfilling to see just how fast this place has become so special to so many families who now have their own strong, emotional attachment to this land they’ve chosen for a final resting place.”

For more information about Whispering Hills, located at 3550 Mooty Bridge Road, LaGrange, Georgia, visit www. whisperinghillspreserve.com.

Kemp Freeman and his family toss rose petals onto his Uncle Alan Raby’s grave

Amy Perry (right) and her husband Jack and daughter Shiloh visit the grave of her father Harold Loyd Whitman at Whispering hills

Whispering Hills offers a full-service horse farm with boarding and riding trails

All About Whispering

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