I read this article from the Fort Wayne, Indiana Journal Gazette the other day.  It deals with the proposition of the Divine Mercy Funeral Home, a funeral home owned and operated by the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend, that is having a day where those people who bring in cremated remains will be given a free cremation niche for the deceased person.  Families that chose this option for remains that are presently not interred anywhere, will have the opportunity to take part in a group  committal service at the funeral home.

According to the article, the Divine Mercy Funeral Home was built and began operating about one year ago on the grounds of Fort Wayne Catholic Cemetery.  Casey Miller, manager of the facility, said that removing a person’s cremated remains from a home can be a blessing that removes stress about the person’s ultimate disposition.  He added that he is not sure this offer will be repeated.

You can learn more about the Divine Mercy Funeral Home here.

Funeral Director Daily take:  A funeral homes being built in a Catholic cemetery is nothing new.  I know that they operate in Los Angeles, Phoenix, and Colorado among other places.  The idea of giving away free niches to families is somewhat unique, I believe.  Although we did do an article on a Texas funeral home that purchased a mausoleum space and had a day when people who did not have permanent resting place for an urn were invited to place it into the mass cremation columbarium.  You can read about that article here.

Death care facilities will be competing for cremation services and maybe the idea of a free niche might be a way a funeral home/cemetery combination could secure business. . . albeit, using a loss-leader to do so.  I’m guessing that as we move forward in the Direct Cremation market wars that are sure to come, funeral home/cemetery/cremation combos may have some marketing tools to get a leg up on their funeral home/crematory only competition.  A cemetery offering a free niche or burial space may be one of those tools.

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