“It seems that everyone under 40 who dies takes their cell phone with them,” says Noelle Potvin, family service counselor for Hollywood Forever, a funeral home and cemetery in Hollywood, Calif. “It’s a trend with BlackBerrys, too. We even had one guy who was buried with his Game Boy.”

While there is no hard data to back up this claim, more and more people in the funeral biz agree that it has become a common occurrence over the last five years. In fact, actually calling the deceased is not uncommon either. MSNBC points to a story involving a woman named Marion Seltzer who continues to pay her husband's phone bill even though he died in 2005. His phone was buried with him, and having the ability to call him and leave a message on his voicemail offers her a degree of comfort. She even had his number carved on the headstone so other people could leave messages.

Yeah, I agree—this seems bizarre. But it actually makes some sense when you think about it (it's even touching in a creepy sort of way). Besides, there is a long tradition throughout history involving burials with treasured objects—and given the fact that we obsess over our cellphones and iPods, I can see why this is becoming a trend. Plus, if you should ever be buried alive, having your cellphone with you could be a lifesaver. [MSNBC via Fark]

They're going to dig up the dead guy and return that SIM card to its slot in the cellphone that'll reside with his dead body in that casket for all eternity. I got news for you, folks. The guy is dead. His text messages will be unremarkable, nay, nonexistent. Can you hear me now? [Jewish Bugle, via CrunchGear]

Mourners Bid Farewell on Internet [BBC News]

This might be pretty nice for the first few years, but if it lasts a few decades, we're thinking its LCD display might seem a bit quaint.

Digital Tombstone [The Uber-Review]

Japan's camera phone craze spreads to funerals [Yahoo! News Via Reuters]