Promession: A Return to the Living Soil

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 2008

Promessa Organic AB of Sweden is developing a new method of disposition for the dead called 'promession'. Promession is described as an environmentally friendly form of burial, and could in fact be the greenest of green disposition options. In addition to its green credentials, promession is offered as a more ethical option than cremation or burial. Susanne Wiigh-Mäsak, biologist and head of operations at Promessa Organic AB recently gave a very interesting and inspiring presentation at the 90th annual convention of the Cremation Association of North America (CANA) and agreed to discuss promession with me for this post.
The process of promession involves a promator, freezing human remains in liquid nitrogen (a byproduct of the compressed oxygen produced already for medical purposes.) Once frozen, the casket and remains are agitated with a shaking motion from a table below them, causing them to shatter into tiny pieces. These pieces are then freeze dried to remove all the moisture from them. Metals are then separated, and after being laid in a biodegradable coffin can be buried, returning all the nutritious components to the soil.
I asked Ms. Wiigh-Mäsak how she came to develop this process. She is both a biologist, and an engineer, and has been keenly interested in gardening and science since youth. A special interest has been composting, and she is careful to point out the difference between decomposition and rotting. According to Ms.Wiigh-Mäsak, proper composting involves decomposition, which requires the same conditions that sustain life: air, proper moisture and proper temperature. These conditions allow for a substance to break down to the nutrient level that can replenish the earth's living soil, and are necessary for enzymes and microorganisms to do their work as well. The alternative to decomposition, says Wiigh-Mäsak, is rotting. Rotting occurs when the remains are too large for the air and soil to act upon their surface readily enough to break down in a positive manner. In the case of rot, the body's substances return to the earth, but not in a form that is enriching and replenishing to the living soil.
Because of her deep interest in composting, Ms. Wiigh-Mäsak was struck by the idea that kitchen scraps are treated with more reverence than the bodies of our loved ones. The nutrients of an apple core, that have been taken from the earth, can be returned to it through proper composting techniques, but the six and a half billion human bodies that have drawn life from the living soil are destined to burn off, rot away or lock away their nutrients, rather than return them in a positive way to the earth.

1. The corpse is frozen down to -18 °C.

2. The coffin with the deceased is lowered into liquid nitrogen. The body becomes very firm and brittle.
3. The coffin and the body are exposed to a light vibration, disintegrating into dust.
4. Mercury and other metals are separated using an induced magnetic field.

5. 25 - 30 kg of the powder now remains. This is put into a coffin made from maize starch or potato starch.

6. The starch coffin is buried shallowly and will turn into compost in 6 - 12 months' time. A tree can be planted on the grave. It will then absorb the nutrients given off.

Combining her interests in biology and engineering Ms.Wiigh-Mäsak developed the promession concept. She argues that this process in essential for the health of the living soil as well as an appealing and respectful disposition of the dead. According to Ms. Wiigh-Mäsak, even direct burial in a shroud is not as positive for the earth because the mass of the body, and the amount of moisture left in it prevents proper decomposition and results in rotting. What is truly different about promession is the process whereby the body is broken down to a point where the proper composting and a positive return to the living soil is accomplished.
Ms. Wiigh-Mäsak describes the actual physical process of promession to be something that is appealing to witness, a process that even a small child could watch and not be disturbed or frightened.

So, how far away are we from having promession as an option to choose from? Promessa is currently preparing for operations in South Korea, where laws have been passed to allow for this form of disposition, and promession has been embraced by the Christian Church there. Sweden is also getting closer to allowing promession as an option. Leaders of many religious denominations have determined that promession is consistent with the tenets of their faith. As far as the future of promession in North America, laws must be passed to allow for promession, and Promessa is currently in the process of selecting licensees and promession providers.

For more information on Promessa AB and promession visit the web site at http://promessa.se/index_en.asp

Embalming: Part 3, Stagecraft

http://www.maxinebeuret.com/pages/funeralparlor1.html

Ross Hollywood Chapel, Portland, Oregon

In the two previous installments of this series, I discussed the transformation that takes place in the appearance of the deceased with embalming, and the temporary preservation that embalming allows.  Now, in part 3, I'll discuss 'stagecraft'.  Although not part of the embalming procedure, these finishing touches are an essential and often misunderstood part of the preparations for viewing the deceased.

At the funeral parlor, careful steps are taken in presentation for a family's viewing of their departed.  Usually the day before services are held, it's time for 'hair, makeup and wardrobe', or as is listed in a funeral home's federally mandated General Price List, 'Other Preparation of the Deceased'.

When we look at a person, a whole host of factors make them recognizable to us, and when any of these pieces don't match our memory, the rest don't quite fit together right.  Hair is a big one for women, and often, even for men.  Whenever possible, the funeral director arranges for the hair dresser who worked on the person in life, to prepare their hair for the funeral.  If this is not possible, we rely on photos.  It is not unusual for family members to come in to prepare hair and makeup.  This can be a difficult thing to do, but I don't think anyone ever regrets having done it.

   

http://raarooree.blogspot.com/2009/01/busby-berkeley.html

Busby Berkeley-Stagecraft

Makeup is one of the most misunderstood aspects of preparation, and heavy handed funeral directors and embalmers are largely to blame.  In some communities, people have come to expect a 'funeral pallor' of caked foundation, waxy orange lips and greasepaint in the Broadway tradition.   I think that the fear of bad makeup is often a factor in families choosing a service that does not include viewing.   

In most cases, when the embalming work has been done well, very little makeup is needed.  Good embalming practices include the use of pigments that replace some of the reddish tones that the circulating blood provides in living tissue.  A light layer of foundation and some highlights complete this effect while leaving the texture of the skin, and natural variations in skin color and freckles visible.  Certainly there are times when more opaque makeup must be used to conceal trauma and jaundice, but good makeup work should be as invisible as possible. 

Many women have told me that when they die, they would like us to use their favorite makeup brands and colors.   This sounds like a good idea, but we are not starting with the same skin tones in death that they start with in life, so adjustments need to be made.  The majority of our work is just bringing back the original appearance of the skin as it would have looked in life before any makeup was added. Because of this difference, the foundation we use often has more pink than they would use to achieve the same effect. Similarly, a light brush of foundation and touches of red on the lips, nose, ears and eyes will make a man look like he did in life with no makeup on. 

In addition to hair and makeup, wardrobe and scene construction are a part of presentation at the funeral home.  These preparations take a surprising amount of time and skill to achieve a comfortable and well turned out appearance.  Clothing that the family brings in may or may not have fit recently, but in either case, good preparation involves alterations that make those garments appear comfortable and well fitting.  I have been told that news anchors have their suit coats altered (sometimes only temporarily,) so that they appear to fit correctly in a sitting position.  Similar steps are taken with collars and lapels for people lying in state.  Sleeves and cuffs are carefully positioned prior to placing the deceased in the casket so that the folds stay neat and attractive. 

Arranging for a comfortable appearance in the casket is another task that takes more time and skill than most would guess.  More than just a box, the casket is the setting in which a person is viewed.   Padding, mattress levels, the drape of fabric and arm supports are adjusted until the deceased is shown to their best advantage.   The skills of the undertaker create the appearance of the deceased lying at rest and comfortable in a setting that is soft, dignified and exactly the right size.

 

If done well, all these aspects of stagecraft go unnoticed, and the viewer is allowed to focus on their loved one.  They are not distracted by unusual skin tones, unfamiliar hair styles, ill-fitting or uncomfortable looking clothes, a stiff, awkward posture, or a setting that looks unnatural.  They see what they have come to see- not makeup, casket or artifice, but the familiar face of the person they miss the most, and the arms and hands they recall hugging and hugging them back.  They see that person at rest and at peace, and if the undertaker did a good job, they might never guess how much work went in to making everything look so natural.   

Embalming: Part 1, the transformation

2/24/09

http://www.nancyburson.com/pages/fineart_pages/earlycomps.html

Two photo composites by Artist Nancy Burson in a project dealing with cultural conceptions of beauty and facial features

Embalming is a topic that nearly everyone has an opinion on, but few know much about. This post is a beginning point to understand the process and results of embalming. In future posts, I will explore more of the issues involved in embalming and the other tasks involved in preparing the deceased for a viewing.

As an apprentice, my first impression of embalming was the transformation it made upon the deceased. I noticed that when the dead arrived at the funeral home, they looked, of course like people, but not like specific people. They seemed to lack their distinguishing features. They were pale and their features were drawn back, mouths and eyes open, they were usually needing a shave and a hair cut. As the embalming preparations moved forward, the features gradually returned, and I began to see (or even recognize) what that person had actually looked like.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/gatochy/304569010/in/set-72157594241441748/

The glow of Health as pictured in vintage Japanese magazine covers via Gatochy

The first few steps often made the most dramatic changes. The eyes and mouth were closed and set into natural expressions, the person was bathed and shaved, hair washed and combed. Then the embalming fluid was introduced, flushing out discoloration and returning a firmness to slackened cheeks and lips. The pigment in the fluid began to bring back the glow that once shone from oxygenated blood flowing through capillaries below the surface of the skin.

http://deathsweeper.blogspot.com/

Duotronic embalming machine

At this point, under the care of a skilled embalmer, the skin tone, expression and facial features of that person had returned to a very close approximation of the way they appeared in life, and I was amazed, because I could see the person. In addition to the vast improvement in sanitary issues, I could see the character and personality of a specific person who, only a few hours before, had looked like they could be anyone or no one. This made an impression upon me. The fact is that it is a much different experience to be around and to look at a person who has been embalmed, and one who has not been embalmed. I am confident that if people really knew the difference first hand, almost everyone without a religious or philisophical prohibition against embalming would choose it without a second thought. The difference is that vast.

http://flickr.com/photos/gatochy/453038753/

In life, our cheeks, laugh lines and other features make us recognizable and express our unique character. Above, a picture of Portuguese personality and beauty via Gatochy

http://www.ioffer.com/i/46514211

You could argue that Chet Baker looks like he's already dead in this photo from the documentary film of his life "Let's Get Lost", and in fact, he died shortly after this picture was taken, but I think that the photo shows the personality that lines and other facial features give to a person's appearance. These features are lost due to the effect of gravity on the facial features of a person who has died, and not been embalmed.

Today, people have many decisions to make during funeral arrangements, and whether to embalm or not is one of the big ones. Legally, a private family viewing can take place without embalming, and many people choose this route, or choose not to view at all. Whatever the choice, people should be aware of what they are getting, and in my professional opinion, they are getting a better look at the deceased if the funeral home staff is allowed to do their work prior to viewing.

Part 2, Temporary Preservation

Part 3, Stagecraft

The Case of the Catholic Casket

Giottino's Pietà of San Remigio. ca. 1365, Tempera on wood, 195 x 134 cm, Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence. http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Giottino_pieta.jpg

"In the winter of '95, my bedridden father was preparing for his impending death. As the town's longtime independent Baptist minister, he had helped countless families in their grief. In his mind, by taking care of his own funeral arrangements, his family wouldn't have to do a thing. So he worked it all out with his friend, Neil, the longtime mortician from the funeral home across the river. One of my seven siblings lived in town, so Dad sent John over to Neil's place to select the casket, knowing that he's also friends with Neil and his younger partner. A couple of weeks later, I was in town, and Dad asked me, the eldest, to go approve John's choice.The casket was adorned on opposite corners with exquisite wood relief carvings of da Vinci's Last Supper and Michelangelo's Pieta, one pair at each end. I reported back that John had made a wonderful choice, as I described these iconic carvings. Having seen the Pieta in Rome's St. Peter's Basilica, Dad was immensely pleased, and so was I. At Eastertime, still at home, in his last lucid moments, Dad started to tell us a funny story about kicking the bucket. Laughing with him, we asked whether he was finished with the story, but its punch line slipped away with him. Later that evening we called Neil, wanting him to pick Dad up. That he had lost a dear friend was plain for all of us to see.The next afternoon brought fireworks. A longtime member of the church Dad had served rang the doorbell, and before she was through the door, burst out, I don't understand why Carl would have Neil do his funeral. Why is Carl going across the river to the Catholic funeral home? What's wrong with the Protestant one on this side? I just don't understand! We were all startled, as Dad's choice had seemed most natural, given his long friendship with Neil. Her outrage switched on a light bulb in my mind, and only then did I catch a glimpse of the significance of what had been chosen. It was a Catholic casket. Yes, an unadorned cross had replaced the crucifix, but the casket's imagery was unmistakably traditional, very catholic, if you will. At the visitation the next day, Neil pulled me aside, wanting us to know how his friendship with Dad had started. Years ago, he had purchased a very old funeral business that had been run into the ground. That first year, he did only six funerals, but Dad knew of his plight. Neil's words to me were, If it weren't for your dad, I wouldn't have succeeded in this business. Dad had directed business his way, helping him gain the footing he so desperately needed. We children had no idea of this basis of their friendship. Then John told his story about choosing the casket. It had caught his eye immediately, as the most prominently displayed piece there. After wondering what people would think and viewing other caskets, it dawned on him that this casket would not even have been there for anyone else. Neil had specifically ordered this coffin for Dad. Surely it symbolized their beautiful friendship, and we suspect that Dad knew. The next day, with grateful hearts, we proudly followed that Catholic casket up the aisle of the Baptist church. Dad's ministry had bridged many rivers, serving non-Baptists and the unchurched, helping persons who lived on society's margins. In Neil, he had found a soulmate."

Nelson Hart for The Holland, MI Sentinel
http://www.hollandsentinel.com/lifestyle_religion/x1720644776/COLUMN-My-father-s-casket

Undertaker Tries to Save a Young Man's Life

http://www.kansascity.com/637/story/859600.html

Here is an inpiring story of undertakers giving back to their community and trying to save a young man from a life of violence.- from the KansasCity Star

http://www.kansascity.com/637/story/859600.html

Morticians try to save a young man’s life by making him face death
By MARY SANCHEZ The Kansas City Star
Frank Harvey absently picks a speck of lint from the forehead of his childhood friend. A parting gesture for yet another familiar corpse.
His 16-year-old counterpart, one of two black teenagers killed by gunfire in Kansas City, is lying faceup on the embalming table at the Duane E. Harvey Funeral Home.
Frank is 18 and spends much of his time at the south Kansas City funeral home, his days carefully overseen through the tutelage of a cadre of older black men. So similar most of their lives, now the two teens couldn’t be more distant: One his chest splayed open post-autopsy, the other standing at the foot of the stainless-steel table in a white shirt, tie and suit vest.
“The young people who come through here,” Frank says, “I know the majority of who they were and what they were about.”
He’s not boasting. The adage that six degrees separates all people must be adjusted for Kansas City. More like three degrees here, a town where people seem less apt to move away. Winnow it to one degree among black people born to the city’s East Side.
Frank has just covered his friend’s body with a velvet maroon drape and ushered the young man’s father and other family members in for a viewing. Frank’s mother used to date the young man’s uncle.
If Sunday is the most racially segregated day of the week for church services, funeral homes are an extension of that separateness. The Harvey funeral home also marks a class division. This is where the vast majority of black murder victims are taken.
And Larry Love is the mortician who for nearly 20 years has seen to their final care. It used to be that Love prepared the bodies of former classmates from Southeast High School, crossing out their pictures in an old yearbook. Now he’s busy burying those people’s children.
Love, 40, is among the men attempting to keep Frank from winding up on the table. But don’t assume it’s the gore of embalming that Love is banking on. Autopsied murder victims don’t faze Frank — [He] has seen his share of blood and guts, some of it caused by his own hands. He was certified as an adult, served two years on an involuntary manslaughter charge and was released in July. A far-too-old-for-him girlfriend had bought a gun, and Frank’s cousin ended up dead.
No, something far less tangible is what Love and the other men at the funeral home are counting on to save Frank: their caring concern, displayed minute by minute through the day. They form a force field of admonishments, running commentary and, most importantly, geographic distance from the urban core. Frank stays with Duane Harvey at night in his Raytown home and has even begun using the Harvey last name.
And so a recent Monday began a familiar routine: Love preparing the bodies of two more young black men killed in violence, Frank as his assistant.
Embalming is hard physical labor. Formaldehyde comes in gel, powder (mixed with sawdust) and liquid forms. Love will use all of them that day.
Frank wheels the gurney carrying the body into the room. It is the 17-year-old whom his friend was near when he also got shot.
Love tosses off the remains of the heavy black body bag, talking to Frank as he fills the empty chest cavity with water from a half-inch hose. He has long wished that viewing the impact of gunshot blasts would affect young people. “Do you think seeing this would help?” he says, putting his index finger into bullet holes, counting, “One, two, three, four, five … .”
“Nah, they’d glorify it. Put it on their MySpace page or something,” Frank replies.
“Let’s just say this young man had some sort of job — would he be here?” Love asks as he forces a long metal wand through the corpse, injecting liquid embalming fluid.
Love believes in work for teenagers. Like the “Joy Jobs” he had as a youth, an old city program that gave him cash for cool clothes and kept him busy and out of trouble by hauling trash. Another urban connection: The husband of the woman who taught Love much of what he knows about embalming helped design that job program.
“ ‘If a man don’t work, he shouldn’t eat,’ that’s what my mother used to say,” Love says.
Willie Love, Larry’s uncle, pops his head into the room, just checking. He’s sharply dressed in a suit.
“If anything ever happened to Frank, it would kill us all,” the older man says, making sure he catches Frank’s eye. Then he reaches out and shakes Frank’s hand, a gesture he will do three times in the next five minutes. A gentleman’s love touch to a young man.
“Give me two more,” Love calls to Frank. Frank goes to the cabinet, retrieves the pint bottles and pours formaldehyde into what looks like a Crock-Pot atop a stainless base.
The talk turns to the lost generations in some black families; mothers teaching their daughters to be prostitutes, others sharing drugs with their kids, the adults telling the kids to retaliate when a family member is murdered. Frank pipes in with examples.
“I don’t care how bad your parents are, that should not make you want to go out and have the life of crime,” Love says.
Love scissors a long piece of linen cord from a spool and holds it high above his head as he double-threads it through a long, curved needle. He’s ready to sew up the body, taking long, carefully drawn-under stitches.
“The streets are calling him,” Love says of Frank. “They already took his father.”
Frank shrugs, looks to the floor, his easy grin gone. Frank was 8 when his father died, 1998’s 21st murder victim. “His father was a nice guy, but he was involved with the gangs, and it cost him his life,” Love says.
His eyes scanning the floor, Frank says he never really knew what happened. The cops never said.
The conversation shifts to drugs. Frank has examples there, too. Young kids popping Ecstasy, later graduating to other drugs.
The advent of crack cocaine in the mid-’80s coincided with the young people beginning to kill one another, Love says.
“Johnson County just thinks this is all Jackson County’s problem,” he says, his voice rising. “But it’s all our problem. If you come down here to get high, to get your drugs, you’re just as complicit. Ain’t no guns manufactured at 39th and Prospect, either.”
He is washing the body now, taking care to rinse thoroughly, then patting it dry with a cloth. He knows family soon will be hugging and kissing this young man at his funeral.
“I’ll never give up hope on my people,” Love says. “Us as a people, this stuff isn’t our nature. We could have quit in the hull of that ship coming over toward slavery, but we didn’t.”
Frank has taken the wrist portion of a rubber glove and made a band he plays with as he sways back and forth in a swivel chair. But he’s listening.
“When Frank makes it, it will be his job to reach back and save someone else,” Love says, looking toward his young charge. “That’s how you save a community, one person at a time.”
He nods to Frank, motions to a gurney in the hall and says, “I’m ready for the next one.”http://www.kansascity.com/637/story/859600.html

Can I Fly With Cremated Remains ?

A question that often comes up these days is "Can I fly with Mom's Urn?". The short answer is yes, as long as the urn can be X-rayed, you can bring it on the plane with you. Cremated remains may be placed in check-in luggage on some flights, but as they are irreplaceable, and airlines have a history of losing luggage, I wouldn't recommend it. If you have selected astone or bronze urn that cannot be X-rayed, TSA is not allowed to open it, and the urn won't fly. A solution would be to bring the urn to your local funeral home, where they can place the cremated remains in a temporary container for transport, and a funeral home at the other end can replace the cremated remains back in the urn. Aside from the cost of purchasing a temporary container if necessary, neither funeral home is likely to charge for this service. For the long answer to transporting cremated remains, here are two statements on the subject from TSA.

http://urngarden.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=937
Lead Crystal urn from UrnGarden

TSA Partners With Funeral Homes To Safely Transport Cremated Remains
U. S. DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITYTransportation Security Administration
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - September 7, 2004TSA Press Office: (571) 227-2829
WASHINGTON, D.C – The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) today announced a partnership with the nation’s funeral homes to ensure that cremated remains are safely and securely transported through airport security checkpoints.
"Americans have recognized the need for measures that have dramatically increased aviation security since the events of September 11th," said Ron Sokolov, Executive Director for Customer Service and Education. "As more Americans transport cremated remains, TSA and the nation’s funeral homes are striving to educate the public on the best method to move cremated remains through checkpoints in a manner that is both respectful to loved ones and secure."
To maintain the highest level of security, TSA determined that documentation from a funeral home about the contents of a crematory container was no longer sufficient to allow the container through a security checkpoint and onto a plane. Since February of this year, all crematory containers must pass through an X-ray machine. If a container is made of a material that prevents screeners from clearly seeing what is inside, the container will not be allowed through the checkpoint. Out of respect for the deceased, screeners will not open a container, even if requested by the passenger.
TSA recommends that passengers transport remains in temporary or permanent "security friendly" containers constructed of light-weight materials such as plastic or wood. Temporary containers are typically available from funeral homes and offer a security friendly means to travel by air with a crematory container. Once the passengers complete their travel, they can visit their local TSA’s Funeral Home Partner who will transfer the remains from the temporary container to the permanent container free of charge. The complimentary "Remains Transfer Service" has been embraced by the funeral industry and already many funeral homes have requested to become partners in this important customer service effort.http://www.tsa.gov/press/releases/2004/press_release_0499.shtm

http://www.crunchgear.com/2008/07/02/keep-your-laptop-in-your-luggage/

Transporting the Deceased
Traveling with Crematory Remains
We understand how painful losing a loved one is, and we respect anyone traveling with crematory remains. Passengers are allowed to carry a crematory container as part of their carry-on luggage, but the container must pass through the X-ray machine. If the container is made of a material that generates an opaque image and prevents the security screener from clearly being able to see what is inside, then the container cannot be allowed through the security checkpoint.
Out of respect to the deceased and their family and friends, under no circumstances will a screener open the container even if the passenger requests this be done. Documentation from the funeral home is not sufficient to carry a crematory container through security and onto a plane without screening.
You may transport the urn as checked baggage provided that it is successfully screened. We will screen the urn for explosive materials/devices using a variety of techniques; if cleared, it will be permitted as checked baggage only.
Some airlines do not allow cremated remains as checked baggage so please check with your air carrier before attempting to transport a crematory container in checked baggage.
Crematory containers are made from many different types of materials, all with varying thickness. At present, we cannot state for certain whether your particular crematory container can successfully pass through an X-ray machine. However, we suggest that you purchase a temporary or permanent crematory container made of a lighter weight material such as wood or plastic that can be successfully X-rayed. We will continue to work with funeral home associations to provide additional guidance in the futurehttp://www.tsa.gov/travelers/airtravel/specialneeds/editorial_1296.shtm

School named after Undertaker

http://www.marchfh.com/

A school named after an undertaker?
It sounds strange, but there's good reason that Harford Heights Middle School in Baltimore was renamed after William C. March.
Not only did March found one of the largest African-American owned funeral service companies in the country, he also gave college scholarships to more than 50 Baltimore students.
Learn more about him in the obituary that The Sun published when Mr. March died in 2002.
THE BALTIMORE SUN

March Funeral Homes' founder dies at age 79William March conquered barriers to build business
The death of William C. March means "the industry has lost a legend," a protege said. William C. March, founder of March Funeral Homes, one of the largest African-American-owned funeral service companies in the country, died yesterday of complications from Parkinson's disease at his home in Towson. He was 79.
Mr. March got the idea to become an undertaker from a man he met in a pool hall and launched the family-owned funeral business in 1957 from the living room of his rowhouse at 928 E. North Ave., which the family still owns. Initially, he used a 1939 hearse, which he once said "looked like a stagecoach coming down the street."In the beginning of the fledging enterprise, the majority of his clients were indigent veterans and welfare cases, eventually earning March a reputation as "the welfare undertaker."
Business grew steadily, and by 1978, Mr. March constructed a sprawling funeral home in the 1100 block of E. North Ave. between Ensor and Aisquith streets. Seven years later, he built a second facility in West Baltimore in the 4300 block of Wabash Ave. He also founded King Memorial Park, a cemetery catering to the African-American community in Baltimore County, which, at 154 acres, is the largest black-owned cemetery in the country, according to March Funeral Homes.
"I never wanted to be rich," Mr. March, the father of four, said in a 1984 Sunday Sun Magazine profile. "Just wanted to pay my bills and educate my kids."
At the time, his funeral business was valued at $5 million. Today, it is worth an estimated $25 million, said Mr. March's son, Erich W. March, vice president and general manager of the enterprise.
Along the way, Mr. March received numerous awards and recognition as a leader in the funeral industry for his entrepreneurial savvy and commitment to providing services for everyone -- regardless of their financial situation.
"Mr. March is one of the role models for African-American entrepreneurs in this city," the Rev. Walter S. Thomas, pastor of New Psalmist Baptist Church, said yesterday. "He was a man of the community. There wasn't a church that he didn't help. There wasn't a person he didn't rescue. He buried more people with no money," Mr. Thomas said, his voice trailing off. "He was that kind of a person."
"The industry has lost a legend," said Vaughn C. Greene, 39, founder of Vaughn C. Greene Funeral Services, who recalled meeting Mr. March when he was 16. "He literally changed the face of the funeral industry.
"He talked to me. He encouraged me, and I wasn't even a member of his staff. He planted seeds in me as young person that are germinating right now."
Business obstacles
But building his enterprise wasn't easy. Even as his business grew steadily in the 1970s, Mr. March had difficulty persuading loan officers to advance him money and believed he was often rejected because of his race. Financing for the East North Avenue funeral home came from the Small Business Administration, an African-American savings and loan association and $150,000 of his own money.
Knowing firsthand the importance of access to capital for small-business development, Mr. March helped finance and co-found the Harbor Bank of Maryland, the city's first minority-owned commercial bank.
The bank controls more than $200 million in assets and is listed among Black Enterprise Magazine's top-performing minority-controlled financial institutions.
A generous and civic-minded man, Mr. March also helped restore Orchard Street Church, a landmark that sheltered slaves as they made their way to freedom along the Underground Railroad. In 1982, Mr. March established the Thelma March Scholarship Foundation in honor of his sister, who died in a fire during her first year of college in 1941. The scholarships are for college-bound students from Dunbar and Douglass high schools, which he attended.
Born in Salisbury, N.C., and raised in Baltimore, Mr. March was a veteran of World War II and the Korean War. He recently received a commendation and a medal from France for participating in the Normandy invasion.
He dreamed of becoming an architect in 1946 after a stint in the Army. But after talking with a man in a pool hall about becoming an undertaker, he headed for New York to study at the American Academy of Mortuary Science. (The man who gave him the idea abandoned the notion.)
After he graduated, no one would hire him to provide the apprenticeship required to obtain a funeral director's license. At the time, he recalled in 1984, funeral directors hired only relatives.
He eventually got an apprenticeship but was required to serve four years without pay instead of two. To support his family, he took a night job at a post office.
In 1955, after getting his license, he joined an established black funeral director who acted as his mentor.
`A very humble man'
"My father had an incredible life," said Erich March. "He was a very humble man and achieved so much. He really wasn't comfortable with attention. He was always being honored and given so many accolades, but he was just a humble person and just wanted to help somebody."
http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/news/education/blog/2007/10/a_school_named_after_an_undert.html

Six Things Your Funeral Director Won't Tell You

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http://www.toolfactory.com/olympus_contest/contest_winners/Spring_2007_photography_winners.htm

The following is a list of things that your funeral director will not ever say to you. Why? Because funeral directors are professionals who focus on the needs of the grieving family, and will not trouble them by discussing the difficulties they encounter by providing exceptional service when it is needed most.

1. The visitation is over. It's time for everyone to leave. Visitation times are scheduled to provide a basic time frame for the gathering, but families often find that they want to continue visiting with their guests for an hour or more after the visitiation is scheduled to end. This is encouraged by the staff and there is no additional charge for the extra time.



2. We can't have your service on that day, we've already got two services going on then. Funeral services are scheduled for the convenience of the family, and although the funeral home may need to hire additional vehicles or staff for additional services on the same day, the wishes of the family will be accomodated without additional charge or comment.



3. I'm sorry, but I can't meet with you today because it's a holiday, or because we only work from 9 to 5, or I can't drive out to your house to meet with you. We meet with families when and where it is convenient for them whether this means meeting after hours or at whatever location meets the needs of the family. There is no additional charge for this service.



4. Because of the number of guests expected, there will be an additional staff charge. Large funerals require additional staff and equipment to run smoothly, but this charge is not passed on to the family.



5. There will be a fee for transporting your flowers to nursing homes around town / to your home after the service/ to church for the service. The funeral home moves flowers from the chapel, to church, to the graveside, to the family home, and to nursing homes and hospice at the request and for the convenience of the family without additional charge.



6. There will be an additional charge for transporting your loved one from the place of death because: Their size requires additional staff and equipment/ It's Christmas morning / We will have to make additional trips because the family decided that they needed more time. Death takes place at any time, and the transport of the deceased can be complicated by many factors including time and location. We are available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, and promise to be patient, compassionate, helpful and discreet. The long hours we work are never a topic of our conversation with a family. The director may have been up all night working, may have another arrangement to make soon, or may spend extra hours past a scheduled service or visitation, but when meeting with you, their focus is on your needs, not theirs.

Apples and Oranges

For many families, price is one of the most important factors in selecting a funeral home, and in selecting which services they want. Often families call a number of funeral homes at the time of death, or when pre-arranging their funeral services, to find the lowest cost. What can happen, though, is that they may end up comparing apples to oranges, and select a 'discount' firm where their charges could actually be higher than at a full service funeral home.

The advertisement shown above recently ran in my local newspaper, and I'm sure many price shopping families thought that this price of $535 was much lower than the same services would cost at a full service funeral home. However, if you look at the area I highlighted, you'll notice that the $535 does not include the services of the funeral home, or transportation to the crematory. What does the $535 cover? It covers only the charge for the cremation itself, a book that would be free at a full service funeral home and the urn. Our charges for the same urn and service would actually be less. A family who engaged the discounter would still have to find a funeral home to:

• Remove the body from the place of death
• Meet with the family to disuss services, prepare obituary, complete, deliver and file required forms
• Purchase a container for the deceased to be in at the crematory (State requirement)
• Arrange for services, clergy, musicians, work with coroner, and physician as neccesary

Not only that, but upon further investigation, we found that the family would have to pay additional charges to the discounter for transportation to the crematory and transportation of the cremated remains to the cemetery-even if the cemetery was owned by the discounter. These are charges that the full service funeral home would not make if they were in charge of arrangements.

Reputable firms will always tell you what ALL of the costs are before you sign up, discounters may not, so be sure when you compare prices that you compare apples to apples and oranges to oranges. If something seems too good to be true, it probably is.

The Procession - How Important Is It Really?

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Do you realize how much time, effort and money go into a funeral procession? A new Cadillac Hearse costs about one hundred thousand dollars, it needs regular upkeep, and must be replaced regularly (anyone who has ever experienced car trouble during a funeral procession can attest to the importance of reliable equipment.) Gas prices aren't going any lower, and personally, I've spent weeks of my life standing out in the sun, rain and snow, flaging, and lining up cars for processions. Then, there's the inconvenience to others. In Wisconsin, processions have a maximum speed of 45 miles per hour, and though you still see some respectful people stopping or taking off their hats as a procession comes by, more often there's honking or dangerous passing from those who feel that they shouldn't be slowed down by someone else's death.

So why do we bother?

The word funeral actually comes from the latin word for torchlight procession, the traditional ancient rite, the main event, the respectful and cermonious transport of a person to their place of rest. This is the final journey, the last walk a family takes with their loved one, the 'second line' of the Jazz funeral, and it is both symbolic and healing. The procession is a public expression and enactment of the love, respect, loss of a loved one that allows both family and friends to participate. It is an opportunity for the residents of a town to witness this expression of love and respect. The procession says :

This person was important to us.

This day is not like other days.

This journey is not like other journeys.

Our loss is meaningful enough that we take special care in a
special vehicle to solemnly and ceremoniously convey the earthly remains of our
loved one to a special place where their life will be honored and remembered.

At ground zero after 9/11, whenever a part of one of the victims bodies was found, all work stopped, and even if it as the tiniest part of someone's remains, a hearse and escort slowly drove out as all present stood at attention in respectful silence. This is the standard of conduct that should be followed in respect for the passing of any life.

Why a hearse? For many, a Cadillac or Lincoln hearse feels to be the appropriate vehicle to convey the respect on solemnity of the occasion, but this isn't so for everyone. The important thing is that the vehicle is appropriate and intentional. I have witnessed and encouraged processions where the deceased was carried by horse drawn wagon, in a loved truck, in a special motorcycle hearse or on foot, and where cremated remains were carried in a favorite sports car, or by bicycle. I have led proccessions with fire trucks, police cars, motorcycles, an hot rods following, and these were perhaps the most poingnant and meaningful and respectful of all.

A funeral procession is one of the most meaningful and beautiful parts of a funeral service, and it's actually one of the least expensive. Why go to all the bother? Isn't that person important enough, whoever they are, that everyone can slow down a bit and drive slowly with their lights on for their final ride through town?

What Makes up the Cost of a Funeral? part 1, the Basic Service Charge

This photo shows the Olson-Holzhuter-Cress Funeral Home in Stoughton, Wisconsin as it appeared in 1906. This family home was converted to a Funeral Home in the 1940s and has been a place of comfort for generations of Stoughton families

Unit Pricing

Years ago, funeral homes used what is called unit pricing. This meant that the cost of the funeral service was included in the cost of the casket. The family simply selected their casket, and the price listed for that casket included all the professional fees, equipment and facility fees, etc. This was pretty simple and easy for families to understand. In those days, the service costs were pretty much the same from one funeral to the next. The biggest difference was which casket was selected.

The General Price List

Today, it is federally mandated that every merchandise and service item a funeral home charges for is listed in their General Price List. This allows families to decide, based on cost, that they would prefer more minimal, or more complete services, and to pay for only the goods and services they want to select. Depending on the type of service selected, however, some goods and services are required by law, or by cemetery policies. This includes an outer burial container- or vault, required by most cemeteries for burial, and embalming, required for a standard public viewing of the deceased. If a family decides that they do not want these goods and services, they can choose a different type of funeral that does not require them.

The Basic Service Charge

One item that is not optional is the 'Basic Service Charge'. There are some fixed costs that the funeral home encounters that are associated with any service, whether it is a direct cremation, or a full traditional service with a burial. That is why this fixed fee is applied to all services.

What makes up the Basic Service Charge?

The most significant factors in the cost of the Basic Service Charge are professional personnel, facilities, equipment, and vehicles. The maintenance of these is unending and must be available 24 hours a day.

A funeral home needs licensed funeral directors and competent and understanding people must be available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. The service does not cease operations on weekends or holidays. the funeral home workweek is 168 hours, not the 40-hour week which is the usual for most people.

No two families are alike, and therefore, no two services are alike. Traditions, customs, social standing, personal feelings, financial ability, ethnic rituals and a multitude of other influences affect each arrangement. Our services must conform to each individual family's wishes and personal and religious needs. By law, we cannot and do not discriminate. Thus our facilities, equipment, supplies, and staff must be ready to serve everyone, whether they desire 'simple' or detailed services.

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  FIXED OVERHEAD COSTS- These are the costs we incur just by being in business and ready to serve the community's various needs. (Costs incurred for specific services are charged as used.) Each family is charged equally for these costs, regardless of disposition choice and other services selected.


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  COMPLETE ARRANGEMENTS, SUPERVISION, AND FACILITATION OF SERVICES DESIRED- This includes meeting with the family to: explain all options and choices, help develop a meaningful remembrance and memorialization, secure vital statistics information, explain and complete itemized cost agreement, and extend credit.


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  OVERSEE AND IMPLEMENT FAMILY'S WISHES- We contact, coordinate times with and convey the family's wishes as needed to: clergy, musicians, necessary automotive equipment, hair dressers, civic and fraternal organizations, veterans associations, companies providing desired merchandise or services, coroner and physician, type obituary and deliver information and photos to all newspapers requested, crematory and cemetery.


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  COMPLETION OF ALL LEGAL DOCUMENTS, PERMITS, REPORTS AND FORMS- This includes: prepare and deliver death certificate to physician and pick-up when completed, VA and social security forms, cemetery forms and permits, filing completed death certificate and final disposition form with coroner and register of deeds, and obtaining certified copies of the death certificates when they become available.


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  ANSWER ALL TELEPHONE CALLS AND INQUIRIES REGARDING DEATH SERVICES


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  AVAILABILITY OF FAMILY SERVICE COORDINATORS FOR AFTER SERVICES FOLLOW-UP AND PRE-PLANNING AT NO EXTRA CHARGE

In part 2 of this series, I will explain some of the costs that derive from specific service choices. If you would like further explanation of any of the items listed above, or have questions about any other aspect of funeral services, you may email me at pmcnally@cressfuneralservice.com

Japanese Cemeteries Fill Up While American Cemeteries Become Irrelevant

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http://www.plasticbamboo.com/2007/05/13/sunday-snapshot-kyoto-graveyard/

In Japan, space is at a premium, and funeral and cemetery costs are many times those in North America. Families who cannot afford to purchase graves lease out lockers for the respectful repose of their cremated remains. These costs are not easy to bear, but there is a clear value to funerals and final resting places, and so, a way is found to pay them. This contrasts sharply with many of the families I see, who may even have a family plot where cremated remains could be buried, or certainly have the means to find a permanent resting place for them, but prefer to scatter or choose to decide later what to do with their loved one's cremated remains.

The reasons why an increasing number of Americans have an aversion to burying in a cemetery have little to do with cost. Many families today move all over the country and the world, and their children are often scattered in different places. When this is the case, who will visit the grave? Sometimes it seems easier to bring the cremated remains with you to your next place of residence. And how many people today even visit the graves of their loved ones when they live close by the cemetery?

I believe that the biggest reason that many Americans prefer not to bury in a cemetery, though, is that, just like a funeral in a chapel, that's not where they want to be- that's not where they feel comfortable. The cemetery and the funeral chapel in our society are viewed, rightly or wrongly, as restrictive and gloomy places. People just don't want to remember or bury their loved ones in a place like that. They want to celebrate and bury their loved one's remains in a beautiful, peaceful place that's full of life and good memories that reminds the survivors of what that person was like when they were living.

I have heard so many people tell me that when they die, they don't want a sad funeral, that when they die, they don't want to be buried in the cemetery, that when they die, they just want a big party, and instead of spending money on a cemetery plot, just scatter them in the lake. They don't see a value in the funeral, it's just something they have to do.

This type of comment has been countered by funeral professionals who explain why the funeral service is essential to working through grief in a healthy way. The funeral is for the survivors, we tried to explain. You need to consider the needs of those left behind to say their goodbyes to you, to lay you to rest with the love and dignity that you would want to treat them with, we said. And as far as a big party goes, yes that is desirable, and it's important to laugh, share stories and remember the good times, but it's also important to cry, to make a public expression of respect and sadness at the passing of your loved one, to have an opportunity to get the support of friends and to be comforted by familiar rituals. The value of the cemetery was explained, "People need a permanent place for the remains that they can return to when they want to feel close to a person. You've only to ask a person whose loved one is missing in action, or whose remains were not recoverable after 911, how difficult it is not to have such a place, how difficult it is not to have the return of those remains."

As important as these points are, we weren't hearing their point- they don't want a funeral, they don't want the cemetery. People appreciate the fact that they must cry as well as laugh, that they need to have a ceremony, a ritual, a public expression of loss and an opportunity for friends to support the family and share their sadness and stories, that they need a place to return to. In my experience, even if people don't realize this when they come in to the funeral home, once presented, these ideas make sense to them.

What they don't see the value in is what we've been offering them; the traditional wake, funeral and burial. We need to stop trying to meet their needs with the old formula and find new ways for them to gain the benefits of funeral and burial in a place and style that they feel good about.

How is this done? Funeral homes need to listen to their families and offer them the type of gatherings they want, create the type of rituals they want, and hold the services in the settings that are meaningful to them. Cemeteries need to create places designed to appeal to families, not to the groundskeeper. In future posts I will highlight funeral homes and cemeteries that are offering families what they want, while still giving them what they need.

Update: Please visit these posts highlighting innovation in funerals and cemeteries:

• Making Cemeteries Relevant: Feng Shui in Minnesota
• Making Cemeteries Relevant: Part 2, Innovation in Toronto
• Technology Facilitates Ritual at Japanese Cemetery

New Wisconsin law allows final wishes to be honored

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Wisconsin residents will now have the right to appoint a person to carry out their final wishes. In the past, a consensus of a deceased person's next of kin was required to determine choices such as cremation, burial, viewing and services, even if it was despite the wishes of the decedent. Cress Funeral service is offering free seminars to help people to appoint a person to make decisions their final disposition. Seminars will feature explanation of new law and form, and help in completing and notarizing the form. Help with the new form is also available at all Cress Funeral Homes, call 608-238-3434 for appointments. Follow the link to view the new form and the new statutes.
http://dhs.wisconsin.gov/forms/AdvDirectives/ADFormsPOA.htm

Gypsy graves have a life of their own in Portland, Oregon

In Portland Oregon's beautiful Rose City Cemetery, there is a section of Gypsy graves. The monuments on these graves are interesting enough during most of the year because of the photographs of men in big hats smoking cigars, and ladies in scarves toasting us with wine glasses that are displayed on many of the large monuments. During Christmas and Easter, though, the graves take on a life of their own as they are decorated with an unbelievable amount of baskets, candy, cigars, bunnies, full sized artificial Christmas trees and toys. This always looks odd next to the quiet graves nearby, but think about it, and it makes a lot of sense. Even though our dead are gone, they live on in our minds and memories. They are still in our thoughts and in our lives, just as they were when alive. Our dead are in our thoughts especially during the holidays. Maybe if more of us had a ritual that kept our dead as a part of our holiday traditions, the holidays wouldn't be so difficult to enjoy without them.