Jerrigrace Lyons is a Minister, death midwife, educator, home funeral guide and Reiki Master. She founded the educational non-profit organization, Final Passages in 1995 to inform people about little-known funeral options, natural death care rights and practicalities, green burial, and the benefits of bringing funerals back into the home and family care.
As a pioneer in the new field of home funeral guidance, Jerrigrace has facilitated hundreds of family-directed home funerals, offering choices that specifically address, social, environmental, spiritual, and financial needs. She co-authored a complete guidebook, Creating Home Funerals, and has appeared on radio, television and in worldwide publications including The Wall Street Journal (front page), USA Today, the NY and LA Times, and The London Telegraph. Jerrigrace is featured in the acclaimed POV/PBS Documentary entitled, "A Family Undertaking" and she has also created and developed a 3-tiered certificate program in the field of conscious dying and home funeral guidance called, "Honoring Life’s Final Passage." She is a board member emeritus of the National Home Funeral Alliance and currently serves on the Legislative Committee.