Every Monday we try to give a little run-down on items that we have noticed in the media concerning funeral service, cemeteries, and related services.  Today we have everything from a story about a benevolent funeral director giving back to his community to a funeral homes nightmare about a family receiving the wrong cremation remains.  We also touch base on articles that are timely such as Confederate flags being stolen from cemeteries and an idea on how you can keep cremation families traditional.

• First of all we have a touching story about funeral home owners Cesar and Belia Ornelas, the owners of Angel Lucy’s Funeral Home in Victoria, Texas.  The Victoria Advocate reports that the couple has offered to purchase up to 2000 pairs of shoes for families in need during back to school shopping.  On Saturday 520 pairs of shoes were secured by families in need.  Cesar Onerlas commented, “I never forgot my roots and always want to give back.”

• WTAE TV of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania reported on a story that none of us involved in the death care industry would like to happen to us.  A mother of a stillborn baby had asked a Pennsylvania funeral home to cremate the infant.  Once she opened the cremated remains that were given to her it was evident they were not the infant.  The story will tell of how the funeral home had used a contracted crematory where the mix-up occurred as confessed by the crematory.  Funeral Director Daily take:  We always advocate that when using contracted entities for your work, you have to be up on what can happen when it is taken out of your control.  This is one of those cases.

• You would have to be on another planet to not be aware of the differences of opinion in the U.S.A. about the various issues concerning the far left and the far right.  One of those issues is about the Confederacy and their role in American history.  It is affecting the death care industry in that as this article from the Columbus (Georgia) Ledger-Enquirer points out in that Confederate flags from cemeteries are, in all likelihood,  being stolen.  In this particular case there was a Confederate hospital near the cemetery and many war dead, known and unknown, are buried in the cemetery.

• Finally, an article on Legacy.com caught my eye.  It had the title, “Why the Traditional Funeral Thrives in the 21st Century”.  The title to me was a little odd because it seems all that we hear about these days is that the traditional funeral is becoming extinct.  However, it was a very good article that talks about — even in the cremation generation — aspects of the traditional nature of caring for dead remain in place.  These include a visitation (even if the body is not present), a spiritual ceremony, and a eulogy recognizing that a life has been lived.  Funeral Director Daily take:  After reading this article I actually agree with most of the premises — that being, in a nutshell, that even the most unique services generally blend some type of the historical traditional funeral service into it.[wpforms id=”436″ title=”true” description=”true”]