Where Are Our Ethics?

Over the weekend the Charleston (SC) Post and Courier ran an in-depth story about the death care business in South Carolina questioning the ethics, inspection department, and peer oversight of our industry in that state.  You can read the story here.

What prompted the story and investigation into the death care industry was the story – which we have told you about here – concerning the death of 63 year old Mary Alice Pitts Moore.  If you remember, Ms. Pitts Moore died in 2015 and the family contracted First Family Funeral Home of Spartanburg, South Carolina, to cremate the remains.  Just this year, three years later, Ms. Pitts Moore was found in a room in the funeral facility and, according to the article, was rotting, draped in blankets and surrounded by air fresheners to mask the smell.

Again, according to the article, First Family Funeral Home’s license is now under suspension, and a criminal case is underway into the handling of the remains.  The Post Courier’s investigation also found other funeral homes where complaints have came from.  They include:

  • a funeral home where a funeral director stuffed the organs from one corpse into the body bag of another after cremating the first remains without all of its parts
  • a funeral director that held the cremated remains hostage until the family paid their bill — against South Carolina law
  • a funeral director who walked off with “tens of thousands” of dollars deposited for future funerals

The Post Courier contends in its article that the funeral business in South Carolina is largely governed by industry insiders.  They also contend that this system, with only two state inspectors, allows “unscrupulous undertakers” to continue to operate for years.  Furthermore, they contend that the funeral board, which oversees discipline, is dominated by people in the funeral business.

Funeral Director Daily take:  This is an interesting article with lots of accusations.  It brings up many points, that if true, is a sad indication of how some people operate their funeral businesses.

A little over a year ago I started writing daily for Funeral Director Daily.  To help me get topics I subscribe to a service that daily brings me death care industry topics published around the world.  One of the things that has really bothered me is the number of accusations,  investigations and convictions for wrong doing among funeral directors.  It seems like every week I read an article about a funeral home, crematory, or cemetery owner who has been accused of breaking the law while doing his work serving the public in his community.  It just breaks my heart to see that among our colleagues.

Now, I’m not perfect, and luckily I operated a business that always had a positive cash-flow.  I know not all funeral homes are like that and there is a temptation among some not so fortunate business owners to “borrow” pre-need funds until they can pay them back or ease on ethics to make a buck.  However, you just cannot live up to, what I believe is a minimal trusting standard of a community funeral home if you do that.

My suggestion for those that are having financial problems in this industry — is to get out.  Even if your funeral business is not profitable, it very well may be worth a solid amount to a competitor.  If your funeral home has revenue, it probably has value, as most good, solid, businesses are looking to grow revenue and an acquisition is one way to do so.  A sale may take you out of ownership, but it may help solve financial issues you may face — and in most instances not having to “bob and weave” thru financial straits will make your life much easier.

Whatever you do – don’t take shortcuts, don’t rob the pre-need trusts, and don’t circumvent the laws.  To do so will only put your future in jeopardy and also jeopardize the businesses of good, honest, people in the industry.

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1 Comment

  1. M. Matthews on July 7, 2018 at 9:06 am

    Good message. If you are in financial trouble, get out. Merge or sell to your competitor and do not damage the reputation of our business.



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