‘TRULY DUST TO DUST': South Florida woman's dying wish was for an eco-afterlife in Walton County (PHOTOS)

In death, like in life, Chemene Paliath opted to go green.

“Chemene’s life was very close to nature; we tried our best to honor her last wishes for a green burial,” her father Tobin Paliath said.

And so the family made a 595-mile trek from Pembroke Pines in South Florida to Walton County recently to lay their loved one to rest at the Glendale Memorial Nature Preserve, one of the only green burial specialists in the nation.

To view photos from the day of the burial, click here.

“She wanted no chemicals and toxins, only to be buried in nature wrapped in a shroud,” said Tobin, the family’s patriarch.

The Paliaths were surprised to learn that green burials even existed. The tragic awareness of the eco-friendly burials came after Tobin’s 34-year-old daughter took her own life on New Year’s Eve.

She left a series of notes on the dresser to family member, friends and the person who found her. One note was entitled “My Final Wishes.” She wrote that she wanted a green burial. No embalming. No casket.

“I would like to be buried in just a plain shroud/blanket,” she wrote.

Chemene then included a Web link to the DeFuniak Springs-based preserve.

“Please don’t mark my grave; instead plant a beautiful tree or bamboo...” Chemene wrote. “As for my body, please have them take or use any part that can be used to help someone else. I want to donate any organs/tissue that is usable...”

The heartbreaking letter brought some measure of solace to the grieving family.

“We are learning as we go along; she made it easy for us,” her father told The Sun during the memorial service.

Tobin takes comfort in the fact that she passed on “quickly and painlessly.” He added that his first-born daughter had the “softest and kindest heart of anyone.”

“In the end, her heart couldn’t take any more pain,” Tobin said in an e-mail recounting the devastating news to friends and family. “God please give us the strength to go on...”

The serene burial at 2:45 p.m. on Jan. 11 took place under a canopy of pines and hardwoods in North Walton County. The service was simple and dignified, a truly natural funeral reminiscent of interments of the past. As the final remembrances were offered, the family helped to push dirt and adorn the mound with a variety of beautiful foliage.

Regardless of the freezing temperatures at the time, Chemene’s mother, Angeline, was warmed by the words and gestures of preserve co-founder John Wilkerson and his mate Barbara Chudzinski. They even shared some split-pea soup and a nip of blackberry moonshine with the grieving mother.

“You have been very comforting … thank you,” she told them with a hug as she prepared for the 10-hour return trip home.

Tobin said he is grateful to be able to honor Chemene by saying goodbye to her in a way she would have approved.

“Here it is truly dust to dust,” Tobin said looking around for the last time.

“Let it forever be remembered she was the kindest, gentlest, the most caring and the most loving soul one could ever come across...”