I am still thinking of Monday’s feature where I commented on the numbers, or lack thereof, that seem to be entering the funeral service profession.  One of the reasons that I indicated why I believe what is causing that number is that young people just don’t get the exposure to what funeral directors do because of the rise in direct cremation services where the family chooses no other services of the funeral director such as a ceremony like memorial service and/or funeral service.

It is interesting in that today I came upon this article from a Finland news outlet whereby they indicate – what we have believed – that less people are attending services for the deceased.   Turns out that the Finnish Evangelical Lutheran Church has kept numbers on the amount of people that go  to funeral services in their parishes.

The article points out that in 2017 roughly 44,000 members of the church died and many had no family or friends at their services.  Overall, an average of 36 people attended compared to 43 back in 1999.  In addition, roughly 3,000 services had less than 10 mourners, many of whom were parish workers.

My thoughts go to, “are we just busier in this day and age or do we just not care anymore?”  Or are there other reasons we don’t attend.  And moving to the business side of death care — if less and less people attend services — I certainly can see family members rationalizing that they don’t need to spend much on services and memorialization in the future.  That attitude could create a downward death spiral for funeral service.

Reading this article and believing, even on an anecdotal basis, that funerals in my own community are getting smaller, reminded me of the sign that was in our funeral home back when I started in the business.  The sign was a quote from Sir William Gladstone, who served three terms as Prime Minister of Great Britain back in the 19th century.  It stated:

“Show me the manner in which a nation cares for its dead and I will measure with mathematical exactness the tender mercies of its people, their respect for the laws of the land, and their loyalty to high ideals.”

I’ve often thought of that quote when I was dealing with someone’s loved one.  It often spurred me to “never take shortcuts” and do the job completely.  I think of it often when I see the respect given in the U.S. Military for someone who died in service to his country.  Just last Saturday at our national cemetery in Minnesota, Fort Snelling, services were held for a member of the U.S. Navy who perished at Pearl Harbor some 77 years ago.  He was buried as an “unknown” at The Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu until recent DNA tests allowed for identification and a return to his home.  His brother and sister – both in their 90’s were able to attend his final committal.

As a nation, we are having more indigent services than ever at this time.  We’ve written articles on Funeral Director Daily about the challenges to pay for them in many states. . . . some areas choosing to cremate and scatter at the lowest possible cost to the taxpayers.  I understand that some of those decisions are inevitable as legislators appropriate the money available to operate their jurisdictions.

So, our we as a nation – when we look at how we now care for some of our dead – losing our loyalty to high ideals?

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