It isn't easy working with families who have little money and who are faced with the cost of burying a loved one. We are fortunate to have discovered quality merchandise for reasonable prices which we don''t mark up. Somehow, Helen is able to divide the $2,100 into the right categories, merchandise and services.

 

Last week, an elderly woman died in a local nursing home. We received a phone call from her children saying that the deceased woman's body had been picked up by and taken to a funeral home that the family had not specified. It seems that there are several funeral home "chains" that have contracts with these nursing fcilities so they will be called if a funeratl home has not been designated. In the case of the woman I mentioned, by the time the adult children arrived at the funeral home, the woman had been embalmed and the family already had a charge of nearly $1,000!!! These folks didn't want their mother taken care of by that funeral home and we were called to move this woman one more time to our facility! As we have visited with others about this situation, we have learned that this is not uncommon; these funeral homes have contracts (probably nothing in writing and securely kept from wandering eyes) with nursing homes to call them when there is a death so they can be they can be the first to respond.

 

This is immoral at the very least. This means that family members (often folks who have little financial resource) must pay two charges for transportation and often a higher price for embalming that we charge all without their knowledge or consent.

 

Certainly these few funeral homes are not lacking financially and what the county compensates for death care is not going to increase the revenue of the business since there is little to collect for the funerals and care of the body. Sadly, greed seems to motivate these funeral directors to act in such an inappropriate manner.

 

Only several generations ago, people trusted and respected the local funeral director. Funeral compensation was not always totally in cash (depending upon the finances of the family). The funeral director was satisfied collecting partial payment in cash/check and the other in fresh food products raised by the customers and family of the deceased! I can't say I would know what to do with a newly killed chicken, but I would graciously accept it if that was all a family could do. How many of my colleagues would say the same thing?