Dealing with death day after day may sound depressing, but Diane Kamm doesn't let it get her down. Helping families through their worst time is what makes her job rewarding, she says.

"We aren't grief counselors, but we listen," she says.

Kamm, along with her husband, Tom, owns All-States Cremation, which has its regional office at 3200 Wadsworth Blvd. in Wheat Ridge. Their children, Tommie, Al and John, also work in the family business.

Kamm arrives at her office in Wheat Ridge about 7 a.m. each morning to plan out her day. She checks her messages to see who may have passed away during the night and prepares for her appointments with families.

Once Kamm's staff arrives, they sit down together to discuss the previous day, and provide support for each other over the particularly heartbreaking stories: a mother who lost her only son, a young woman recently widowed.

"I tell my staff, give families the message of 'I'll take care of you,'" she says.

Listening to people's wishes means saying no isn't an option, Kamm says. The family of a trucker requested their loved one's ashes be placed in a toy truck. No problem, she told them.

Another family wanted a relative's ashes scattered in the northern New Mexico mountains. Kamm arranged for two staff members to drive there, scatter the ashes and take photos to give to the family.

Kamm grew up in Chicago and earned an English degree from the University of Iowa. She was introduced to the funeral business when her husband began working as a funeral director. He walked away from the job because he didn't like selling to grieving families.

"There were sales quotas and the pressure to sell families upgraded caskets," Kamm says. "He just didn't feel good about it."

The Kamms saw a need for cremation-only services as an alternative to mortuaries' offerings. When All-States opened in 1985, only 17 percent of deaths in Colorado were followed by cremations, Kamm says. Now that number exceeds 50 percent, and All-States has expanded to have offices in Denver, Englewood, Colorado Springs and Aurora.

Kamm's son John has even opened a funeral service company in Tokyo, she says.

Kamm says she and Tom believe in cremation because of the environmental benefits, since caskets and graves take up land and embalming fluid has toxic chemicals that can pollute the ground.

More than that, "We wanted to help people. We keep cremation simple," Kamm says.

When families come to one of All-States' offices, they sit in cushy chairs and are offered fresh-ground coffee and cookies.

"It's all about having a comforting atmosphere," Kamm says.

The walls of All-States are lined with urns. A teddy bear, a cowboy boot and a fountain are some of the unconventional choices for a final resting place. All-States' services range between $1,000 and $3,000.

About 10 years ago, All-States began selling caskets cheaper than mortuaries, mainly to help people offset costly funerals, Kamm says. However, many mortuaries have raised the prices of services while lowering the price on caskets, so the Casket Mart business has dwindled.

Along with working personally with families, Kamm does the writing and marketing for All-States. Although she intended to go back to teaching English, she has developed a true passion for the company, she says.

"We had a family come in with no money, so we did the cremation at no charge. It's been two years, and they still send us letters and Christmas cards," Kamm says. "It's rewarding to have families say, 'Thank you for caring about us.'"