Directors in the News: How Some Your Peers Are Handling COVID-19 Restrictions
Funeral directors are finally getting some of the attention they deserve. In the last few weeks, reporters from the mainstream media have been asking directors across the country how they’re managing amid COVID-19 restrictions. They’re also making their voices heard regarding the profession’s dire need for personal protective equipment (PPE). Here are excerpts from some of the most recent features.
Funeral industry seeks pandemic guidance
Patty Bentley, Bentley-Montford Mortuary, Butler, GA
“A funeral directors association has written a letter to Gov. Kemp requesting rules that temporarily suspend all funeral services at chapels or other locations, while allowing limited graveside services. Right now, Bentley says, the rules seem to be different in different counties – which confuses bereaved families.
‘You have local governments, and some are doing things totally different. And it’s creating a lot of confusion and uncertainties for funeral directors, as we’re trying to work with families during their most vulnerable time of their life,’ she said.”
Funeral industry adjusting to social distance recommendations
Maria Librio, Rose Hill Memorial Park, Rocky Hill, CT
“On Thursday, Gov. Ned Lamont said he’d like groups restricted to five people or fewer. Funeral homes and cemeteries are now trying to find ways to abide by the governor’s recommendations. So, trying to memorialize those who’ve died has become more difficult than ever.
‘Our job is to make it the best day ever on the worst day of their lives and now it’s becoming more cumbersome,’ said Maria Librio. ‘I need six pallbearers. I need clergy. I’m well over the max and I haven’t included my staff or a single family member.’”
‘Last on the food chain’: Equipment shortages, coronavirus-infected bodies shaking funeral industry
Matt Flammia, O’Brien Funeral Home, Wall, NJ
[Regarding PPE] “‘We have a supply but it’s very limited. Some of my guys have one mask — or no mask.’
His homes are on waiting lists for more equipment, he said, but “masks are really going to hospitals first.”
“We’re last on the food chain,” Frazetta agreed, saying that what protective gear can be found is being hustled to health-care workers on the front lines. “The N95 mask, pretty much the staple in the industry, is like gold now.”
Michael Grandi, Jersey Memorial Group, NJ, PA, and WV
“The ever-prepared Grandi is setting up a creative work-around to cemeteries’ new rule that only a funeral director can bear witness to a casket’s burial. He is trucking in grass and lowering equipment at one of his locations to make a ‘mock gravesite’ that the family can gather around, before the body is transported for the real burial.
Still, it can be hard to give families the emotional closure they need under strict public health guidelines. ‘Priests won’t come out to do services unless it’s in the parking lot of funeral homes,’ Grandi said.”
Funerals are different in the time of coronavirus
Michael Mason, Glenville Funeral Home, Glenville, NY
“They’ve limited their staff to younger workers who are less likely to have severe symptoms of COVID-19, even hiring some people part-time who have been laid off at their other jobs. They’ve asked older staff to stay home and stay healthy while the rate of spread is still a major concern.
‘We have the chairs as far apart as possible. We have sanitizer throughout the whole funeral home. We’ve been cleaning, so we’re trying to make sure not just our families are safe, but our staff as well,’ said Mason.”
Funeral directors, mourners confront new reality during virus
Peter Moloney, Moloney Funeral Homes, Long Island, NY
“‘The Moloney Funeral Homes pitched a large tent at its Ronkonkoma facility to provide a place to gather while still using social distancing of 6 feet apart.’
Moloney said he is now handling the funeral for a 90-year-old man whose spouse hasn’t seen him for a month. The toughest restriction may be on hugs.
‘There is a tremendous value in a hug,’ Moloney said. ‘Part of the process is to be able to come together as a family … to feel close to others, especially at a time of loss. The community is completely understanding, though. They get it and realize this is unprecedented.’”
Grieving families, funeral homes adapt as social distancing becomes new norm, even when a loved one dies
Ted Hopkins, Wilkerson Funeral Home, Reidsville, NC
“Last week, it was a beloved emergency services worker, whose funeral would have drawn a massive audience. The first-responder community was able to place big screen TVs in fire houses so that they could all watch from different locations, Hopkins said of investing in the live streaming technology about five years ago.
Now friends and family can watch live from anywhere with a computer or watch it up to 90 days later using a link on the company’s website.
‘For about a year we just couldn’t get the technology right and we weren’t willing to offer it until it had clean audio and visuals,’ said Hopkins, the business manager at the funeral home. ‘We are so pleased we did the work before we had to use it.’”
Funeral home adjusts to public gathering restrictions
Robert Byrd, Sunset Memorial Park, Midland City, AL
“Robert Byrd and his son came up with a way to ensure families that their loved one’s presence would be felt on such a difficult day. So they decided to place balloons with hand written notes on the pews in place of people.
‘The family can look around the chapel and see that these are people that would be here if it wasn’t for this condition that we’re under today,’ Byrd said.”
