Supermarket Flowers & Price Is Right Scratch-Offs | 4M #93
Welcome to the ninety-third edition of Morticians’ Monday Morning Mashup, 4M #93, 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.
Hymns are hoppin’
Last year, facilities owned by the UK’s Co-Op Funeral Care conducted more than 93,000 funerals — which means they probably had to listen to at least 300,000 funeral songs. Last week, Co-Op released its annual ranking of tunes that are most often played during its services, along with a little commentary on its findings. Behold the overall winners below:
Based on previous year’s rankings, Co-Op was surprised to find that traditional hymns are making a comeback; they hypothesized that the resurgence was due to the hymns played at the Queen’s 2022 funeral. Co-Op has also broken down lists for the most-played songs related to UK sports teams, the directors’ most wished-for songs, movie and TV theme songs, and more.
DIY obits
If you haven’t yet adopted one of the new and super-cool AI-powered obituary tools and still trudge through the process on your own, you might like this recommendation from Aaron Pauls, an assistant funeral director at Yorgensen-Meloan-Londeen Funeral Home in Manhattan, Kansas. Pauls recently wrote a piece in his local newspaper touting Yours Truly: An Obituary Writer’s Guide to Telling Your Story, a book by New York Times obituary writer James R. Hagerty. As Pauls explains, the book includes Hagerty’s tried-and-true tips for writing amazing obituaries — well, technically, for writing one’s own obituary. Even so, it could be a great reference for those looking to improve their obit game — or until AI takes on the task for you.
What’s going on in Jamaica, mon?
This week we found not one, but two items of deathcare interest in the tropical paradise of Jamaica. First, Radio Jamaica reports that funeral directors are frustrated with their government’s failure to enforce guidelines put in place in 2014 to maintain dignity in the profession. Proponents complain that some in the industry are playing “lewd, inappropriate and loud music from hearses at funerals or near churches where funeral services are being held,” putting the reputations of rule-followers at risk. At the same time, some Jamaican directors are threatening to discontinue government-contracted services until they are paid the approximately $100 million owed to them for performing pauper funerals and storing unclaimed bodies. Yikes. (Anyone else thinking Connecting Directors might need to book a Jamaican getaway to investigate these matters further?)
#LifeTok
As more and more morticians take to TikTok to share behind-the-curtain peeks into deathcare, the content shared by one #DeathTok professional might have kept one viewer from needing her services. Lauren Eliza (@lovee.miss.lauren), a Florida-based funeral director, shared a video advising drivers to look both ways at an intersection after a traffic light turns green before proceeding. Last week, Rachel Baker (@rachelbakere), a mother of five, posted her own TikTok saying Lauren’s advice, which she started following immediately after seeing the video, saved her from being hit by a red-light-running driver. Lauren stitched Rachel’s video with hers, and has received more than 5.3 million views, 864,100 likes and 15,900 comments.
Lucky FH
A North Carolina mom was shocked (to the point of passing out in her kitchen) when she won $200,000 on a $5 Price is Right scratch-off lottery ticket. Like most lottery winners, she has big plans for her money — but they’re not exactly what you’d expect. According to a news report, she “plans to use her winnings to pay off her car and help out a local funeral home and animal shelter.”
Neither rain, nor snow, nor EF-3 tornado …
The U.S. Mail has nothing on the folks at Roller-Chenal Funeral Home in Little Rock, Arkansas. On March 31, an EF-3 tornado ravaged the state, tearing off the roof of the funeral home and slamming it back down, shifting a wall in the process. The eight employees and a delivery person who were inside at the time escaped injury, and the six deceased under the funeral home’s care were accounted for. Nearly three months later, the funeral home is still without power. None of this has stopped Roller-Chenal from providing services to families, though. The team quickly pivoted, and with help from the community came up with some “unique” solutions, holding services in auditoriums, schools, and even a country club. Perhaps owner Renata Jenkins Byler put it best, saying, “The funeral profession is 24/7 so there is nothing that stops us.”
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!
