“Mattering”: Can your funeral home help “It”. . . Can “It” help your funeral home?

January 29, 2026/Business/

It’s not something I thought about ever. And, while I sensed some of the psychological needs associated with it, I’d never thought of it in the sense I learned about it last week.

What am I talking about? — “Mattering”. “Mattering” is defined on Gemini Artificial Intelligence as such “. . the universal psychological need to feel valued by others and to add value to the world, serving as a core component of well-being, mental health, and social connection”.

I’d never really thought about that before and as I did think about it the other day, I put it into a funeral or Death Care context. You see, my thought process came up with the idea that if you think you “don’t matter”, then you are probably are not concerned with a final tribute about your life either. . . . and the amount of resources you put into you Death Care services will probably be minimal.

I began thinking about this when I sat down for coffee the other day with the weekend edition of the Wall Street Journal and eventually came to an article titled, “The Retirement Crisis No One Warns You About: Mattering”. (Here’s the article as presented by MSN). I learned a lot by reading the article — ever wonder why so many older retired people want to help out at the funeral home? It’s, at least partly, about “Mattering”.

Here’s some of the quotes that caught me at the beginning of the article:

“It was an erosion in something far more fundamental—their sense of mattering, the deep human need to feel valued and to have a chance to add value to the world. We plan for our wealthspan and healthspan, mapping out financial security and physical well-being. Yet very few of us prepare for an equally essential dimension of retirement: our mattering span, or how we will continue to feel seen, useful and capable of making a difference in this next chapter of life.”

“The consequences of neglecting our sense of mattering are measurable and profound. A 2020 meta-analysis published in the journal Healthcare, drawing on data from over 3,000 retirees, found that nearly a third experienced depressive symptoms.”

“More than 11,000 Americans turn 65 every day. By 2030, one in five will be of retirement age. As we live longer, sustaining a sense of mattering has become a defining challenge of aging. Research suggests it’s time to shift the question from How long will I live? to How will I continue to matter while I do?”

Tom Anderson
Funeral Director Daily

Funeral Director Daily take: There is a lot more to learn by reading the article and I suggest that you do that.

What I really thought about though was how a funeral home could benefit from helping those people in its community feel valued and “Matter”. The way I look at it, the idea of becoming a part of the life of these retirement people would only be a Win-Win situation. People will feel they “Matter” and the funeral home would probably gain captive clientele and a group of clientele who, with a better self-worth, won’t relate to their family to “Just cremate me”. . . . maybe wanting more in terms of service.

I thought about that concept in the terms of rewards cards that businesses offer customers. For instance, when I used to fly more often I was a “Delta Sky Club” member. During layovers I had a special “Delta Club” room with some great amenities to stop off at to either kill time or do online work. I always felt like I “mattered” to Delta. . . . and in that day and age would fly Delta whenever possible because of that.

I think it might be the same with your funeral home. I think that if you can help people in your community have a sense that they “Matter”, they may help your funeral home by being current advocates, future clientele, and quite possibly, become advocates for better funerals or tributes in general. . . . . I don’t think those results would be out of the question.

Related Article — “Why Mattering may matter most“. Stordahl Capital Management

A quote from “Why Mattering may matter most“:

“Money matters. Health matters.

But so does knowing that your life still makes a difference.

And that’s a conversation worth starting long before the farewell party.”

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