Welcome to the one hundredth (!) edition of Morticians’ Monday Morning Mashup, 4M #100, where we’ll serve up bite-sized, easily-digestible nuggets of the deathcare news you need to crush conversations in the week ahead. Bon appetit!
This newsletter is powered by MemoryShare, a funeral livestreaming platform that you can set up in 30 seconds or less.
Obscure cat fact of the week
Did you know that ancient Egyptians would shave off their eyebrows when a cat died? According to writings by Greek historian Herodotus, all members of the household would do this as a “visible sign of respect and grief.” Although the Egyptian people didn’t worship cats, cats were important to their religious rituals and were considered sacred. Some were even associated with particular gods. Now you know!
Hey … that’s OUR line!
Volunteer dive groups have received some well-deserved press for their efforts in locating and recovering long-missing individuals whose bodies were trapped in submerged vehicles. They’re closing cold cases and bringing closure to families, and we can only applaud them for that. However, we have to question the self-appointed nickname that Ken Fleming, founder of St. Petersburg-based Recon Dive Recovery, shared with a Miami news outlet recently. “We actually jokingly call ourselves the last responders, because we’re the ones that go looking when law enforcement has given up,” Fleming says. Ummm … I think that designation is already taken, Ken!
Shoulda AirTagged it
Folks at a Massachusetts cemetery were fed up with thieves stealing things from graves, so they put up a trail cam, hoping to catch the criminals in the act. What they didn’t expect was the thief stealing the actual camera, too. (Lesson learned.) In other deathcare-related-theft news, someone broke into a Utah funeral home to steal a flat-screen TV from the chapel. Luckily, he didn’t also steal the camera that caught him in the act and eventually led to his arrest.
It’s getting worse in SA
Deathcare professionals in South Africa have been suffering from a variety of problems lately, from government-mandated rolling blackouts that strain the cooling efforts of mortuary freezers to a severe shortage in mortuary pathologists. The latter has led to a backlog in autopsies, and, when coupled with the former issue, identifying a body is now a horrific experience for families. Delays of several weeks or more mean that family members are having to identify terribly decomposed bodies — some so far gone that families don’t recognize their loved one, and are relying on obscure markers like fingernail polish to make an accurate identification. In some cases, authorities have resorted to DNA tests to help ID a body, but the tests take more than 30 days to process results. We hope the situation improves soon, as this situation is a worst-case scenario for all involved.
Creative concept for unclaimed cremains
A once-desolate section of an Arizona cemetery reserved for unclaimed cremains has come to life with a colorful, creative, and very cool art project. Recently, the Pima County Medical Examiner’s Office initiated the Indigent Interment Program to decorate the tiles covering the niches storing indigent and unclaimed cremains in Tucson’s Evergreen Cemetery. The program has recruited local artists to paint the tiles in an effort to “put a little smile” on the faces of visitors. Kudos to these folks!
A whole new level of jealousy
A 19-year-old mortician-in-training has taken to Reddit to crowdsource input on her highly unusual relationship issue: Apparently, her boyfriend is jealous of the better-looking men she sees at work … including the dead ones. In her lengthy post, she describes her 20-year-old boyfriend’s “severe attachment issues” stemming from a troubled childhood, but admits that his comments and behavior are “genuinely perverted.” She posted to Reddit in the hopes that others could help her decide whether she should leave him (um, YES!). The post has received 1000+ upvotes and so far has garnered 323 comments.
Say goodbye to Facebook
If you’re using Facebook for live streaming, does this sound familiar?
- Copyrighted music is silenced (even with proper certifications!)
- Advertisements out of your control pop up during the livestream
- It’s difficult for families to access because it requires a Facebook account
This is why Carlton Stevens Jr., Operations Manager and Mortician at Stevens Funeral Home in North Carolina, said goodbye to Facebook and switched to MemoryShare—a live streaming platform built specifically for funeral professionals.
“Now, families don’t have to worry about Facebook accounts. It works, and it’s easy to use,” Carlton said. “It’s the best, I’m telling you. It’s liquid gold.”
After he started offering live streaming during the pandemic, Carlton saw Stevens Funeral Home call volume bump from 20 calls to 41 calls.
Today, Stevens Funeral Home live streams a service every other day.
And with MemoryShare, all they have to do is push a button.
“It’s a no brainer,” Carlton said.
Read how Carlton is using livestreaming to grow his business in our latest case study—click here to read it!
