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Late Spring 2008
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Columns
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Crypt-ic
Commentary By Lowell Pugh Who
defends the use of embalming chemicals and burial vaults against the accusations
of ground contamination by some funeral service critics?
It seems to me that the fluid and vault companies pretty much leave the
fight up to the funeral directors. We
could use a little help. ********************************************* Ken Whitaker of the Dallas Institute of Funeral Service
passed along a report published in UK’s The Embalmer. The
story, which is too long for us to go into detail, covers the International
Science Conference on formaldehyde held in Barcelona in September last year.
FormaCare, the European Formaldehyde Industry Association organized the
conference. Representatives of the
European Commission and Institutes from Germany, Sweden, UK, the Netherlands,
Israel, USA and Brazil also participated. Not
all of the studies have been published yet, but they expect to challenge some of
the current formaldehyde exposure studies. Presentations
and summaries are available on the website:
wwwformacare.org. ******************************************* The conservation burial ground is nice for some areas
and clients. The low density ratio
of burials to acreage will limit their usefulness to serve high population areas
with anymore than token burial numbers. I
remain unconvinced that it will be practical to transport bodies long distances
for green burial. How reliable are
airline schedules nowadays or how much fuel to run a body transport car a few
hundred miles? And when you complain
about toxic embalming chemicals — what do you think dry ice is or how much
energy is required to make it? Do
green proponents think twenty pounds of dry ice will make a mangled body
presentable for a family’s last look? ********************************************* The latest, Jan/Feb ‘08 AARP Magazine’s preneed
expose, “The Cruelest Funeral Scam.” by Barry Yeoman was unfortunately
fairly accurate albeit old news. The
worst offender was not really a funeral director, but Clayton Smart, the
Oklahoma oil man who bought and plundered funeral homes and cemeteries in three
states. The profession suffers
nevertheless. The title and the
accompanying pictures would lead those who didn’t read the article to the
worst possible conclusions about funeral directors. Buried in the story is the usual, “...while most
funeral directors operate honestly….” statement and one excellent example of
a caring and honest funeral home, the Westover Funeral Home in Des Moines.
The rest of the article flays the profession for its
preneed abuses. The author
details the Clayton Smart debacle and five other problem firms.
Dishonesty, bait and switch tactics and portability problems were
discussed. Not mentioned was the fact that the Missouri Funeral
Directors and Embalmers Association and the Missouri Funeral Trust worked with
the state Attorney General in the case against Spencer Funeral Home, Salem,
Missouri. The Missouri Funeral Trust
took care of clients whose full or partial payments had been received by the
trust from the defunct Spencer Funeral Home.
Not everyone who bought preneed from Spencer lost their
money.—information from Don Otto, Executive Director. Besides victims and state officials, FCA’s Slocum was
interviewed. Funeral industry and
professional insiders, Good, Hast, Isard, Biggins, Raymond and SCI’s Reichert
were all quoted. They all probably
made some positive remarks, but the expose writers usually use the quotes that
best support their story. This quote
from the April, 2007 Funeral Monitor added a nice touch, “At this very
moment some cash strapped funeral director is diverting preneed funds for his
personal use.” Geez! Is preneed
really worth it? The door to Crypt-ic commentary is open. |
ADVERTISERS Brian Simmons Springfield Mortuary Service Miller Coach & Limousine Sales Si Mortuary & Cremation Services Mid-States Professional Services Dallas Institute of Funeral Service American Crematory Equipment Co. Aaron Beasley Embalming Service & Crematory Texas Funeral Directors Association Central Texas Funeral Transport
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