Flushed Ashes & Dead Bodies Everywhere | 4M #64
Welcome to the sixty-fourth edition of Morticians’ Monday Morning Mashup, 4M #64, 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!
Cemetery trivia
In which cemetery are the largest number of United States World War II casualties buried?
- Arlington Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia
- National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, Hawaii
- Puerto Rico National Cemetery in San Juan, Puerto Rico
- Manila American Cemetery in Manila, Philippines
If you guessed Arlington, well, you’re wrong. Believe it or not, 16,859 American military men and women who fought in the second World War are buried in Manila American Cemetery in the Philippines, making it the resting place of the largest population of World War II dead. The cemetery lies within what were once the boundaries of Fort William McKinley in Manila, the country’s capital and largest city. Manila was one of the cities most devastated during World War II, most significantly by the month-long battle of Manila in 1945. The Battle of Bataan, which led to the horrendous Bataan Death March, was fought in the Philippines, and many of its dead were laid to rest in the Manila American Cemetery.
Serial killer’s sanitary sendoff
Convicted serial killer Peter Tobin, who was serving a life sentence in a Scottish prison for murdering three young women between 1991 and 2006, died of cancer in early October at the age of 76. After his remains were cremated, the retort that was used was reportedly deep-cleaned and sanitized to avoid “potential cross-contamination” with future cremated bodies. His family declined in writing to make arrangements for Tobin’s disposition, so authorities scattered his ashes at sea. They declined the fervent offer of the father of one of Tobin’s victims to take custody of his cremains so that he could flush them down the toilet.
In trusts we trust
A former funeral home owner in Iowa found guilty of selling pre-needs and then pocketing the funds instead of placing it in a trust will not serve jail time. Andrew Joyce pled guilty to theft to theft in the first degree as part of a plea deal; his 10-year prison term was suspended and he was placed on probation for two years.
A new deathcare spokesperson?
Not that this conversation was actually relevant to nu-metal music, but during a recent interview for the Sing for Science podcast, Korn frontman Jonathan Davis discussed sewing up the anuses of corpses. Yes, it seems that the leader of the band known for hit songs like “Freak on a Leash,” “Dead Bodies Everywhere,” and “Narcissistic Cannibal” was once a mortician’s assistant. You’ve probably heard about Davis before; we’ve talked about him here in 4M … but not as much as he talks about the stranger and sadder aspects of his starter career, like performing autopsies on children and how the job caused his PTSD.
Speaking of careers …
Have you ever thought of what you would be doing if you weren’t in deathcare? Well, obviously you’d want to have an equally lucrative job, one that is just as fun and with the opportunity for longevity. Like, say, being a sex worker on OnlyFans. Just take it from Britain’s Jessica Carter, a mom/sex worker/OnlyFans star who recently that her job is just as sought-after as a career in deathcare. “My job is to have sex, record it and sell it…I hesitate to say sex worker but there isn’t really another way of putting it,” Jessica told the Derbyshire Times. “I think this is an endless opportunities job. It’s a lifestyle, a fun job and I’m hoping to stay in it as long as possible. You want to be in the sex industry or the death industry because that’s where the money is.”
This week in #DeathTok
Last week, mom/mortician/TikToker (apologies for the heavy use of forward slashes in this 4M but there are lots of folks who wear lots of hats in this edition) Lauren Eliza, went viral for sharing the five toys she’s banned from her home. This week’s post has been equally popular; it warns against foods — like the toys in her last post — which, as a deathcare professional, she’s seen prove fatal in children, mostly as choking hazards. Her list includes popcorn, peanuts, avocados and grapes. Again, kudos to Lauren Eliza for using her knowledge and experience to help parents prevent a tragedy.
The secret’s out
It’s more than likely there is no course on search engine optimization (SEO) in mortuary school. But that’s ok, because the cool kids at MemoryShare know all about it — and they know how to improve yours … while at the same time making streaming services super simple for your staff. Get ready for a little mortuary math here (also probably not a class):
SEO + superior streaming services + super simplicity + safety and security =
The MemoryShare not-so-secret sauce for success
MemoryShare’s exclusive app makes streaming super easy; you can record your full service with the touch of a button. By sharing these streams with your community, you showcase your excellent service and create name recognition with the viewers. Aaaannnd that’s not all, folks. Because MemoryShare videos are embedded on your own website (and not on the site of a separate streaming provider) your site gets more views, which results in street cred with the search engines.
Two things funeral homes need in 2022 are visibility and increased call volume. MemoryShare provides both of these things as well as a team of REAL people you can talk to if you ever run into trouble. So what are you waiting for? Learn more about MemoryShare today!
