Regulations
We’ve advised readers of the financial problems that small church and civic cemeteries have in today’s world of less earth burials. Revenue is tougher to come by as cemetery grave lot purchase revenue is not received in a great proportion of today’s deaths. That eventually leads to less money in perpetual care accounts.…
A lot of professions are struggling with people joining their ranks. And, from my point of view it seems to be that society is lacking staffing in the categories that are highly “hands on” in human care. . . .which would include funeral directors and embalmers. There are probably many reasons…
We are blessed to live in a country which allows for religious freedom. And, when you work as a funeral director helping those who have lost loved ones to death, it’s a privilege to help even when those client families don’t believe as you do. However, have you ever thought about those…
This article that was first published in the Los Angeles Times begins “It was standing-room only in the cavernous Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels, where the funeral Mass for Bishop David G. O’Connell was held Friday morning. And it seemed every one of the 3,000 mourners in attendance had a…
The last ten days or so most of America, and the rest of the civilized world, has wondered about the safety of the banking industry. As this is being written on Friday, March 17, we’ve already seen American banks Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) and Signature Bank closed by regulators and have seen some…
This is one of those articles that I will write that probably has no answers. It only brings up questions. That question today is “What’s with Excess Deaths”? When the pandemic hit and deaths increased for almost all funeral homes across the world, one of the questions asked was “With these extra…
The Washington Post recently printed this article which in part said, “. . . .a distinct shift is underway in how we approach death. More than half of Americans are seeking greener funerals, according to the National Funeral Directors Association, and the percentage is rising. The funeral industry is responding: You can now be entombed in a…
I’ll be the first to tell you that I’m certainly not an expert on the subject of faith preference and burial customs because the community that I served was, I’m guessing, at least 95% Christian of those that practiced faith. However, I know some of the history since as before Vatican II in…
Children survivors: 12 year-old leads rally for “Bereavement classes” to be taught in public schools
My younger brother, Jim, and I learned about the death of a parent the hard way. I was a 19 year-old Freshman in college and he was a 15 year-old Sophomore in high school when our father died of a sudden heart attack while servicing a funeral. Immy Leith learned the hard way,…
“This is the most emotionally draining case I have ever experienced on the bench,” U.S. District Judge Christine M. Arguello said during Tuesday’s (January 3, 2023) sentencing hearing in Grand Junction, Colorado. That was the comment, according to this article from Reuters, by the presiding judge at the sentencing hearing of body parts brokers…
