It probably won’t surprise anybody in the Death Care profession that a recent study showed that “Individuality” in funeral choice is becoming far more popular that “Religiosity”.  As a matter of fact, 68% of those consumers questioned believed in holding a “Celebration of Life” rather than a “Time of Reflection”.

And, that 68% figure is 10% points higher than the answer to the same question in 2019 — only five years ago.

The results come from Great Britain’s Co-op Funeralcare and their recent report titled “Trending Tributes“.  You can get to the “Trending Tributes report by following this link to a press release on the topic. 

Here’s another interesting quote from the press release showing the changing face of services, “. . . this trend is further reflected in the locations where funerals are held, as nearly six in 10 (57%) of Co-op Funeralcare’s funeral directors reported an increase in requests for services to take place outside of traditional religious settings, while almost half of the respondents surveyed (48%) said they had attended a funeral in a non-traditional setting over the last year.

There’s also an increase in the use of technology at funerals/celebrations taking place according to the report.  98% of funeral directors report that they have had requests to “Livestream” a funeral — something that is becoming more and more universal.  In addition, 18% of funeral directors report attendees taking selfies and 31% of funeral directors report families or attendees posting to social media about the event.

Tom Anderson
Funeral Director Daily

Funeral Director Daily:  I think that this is a really interesting report to take a look at for all of those who are in funeral service and in charge of offering products and services to those in need of death care dispositions or celebration/events.  There is no doubt that after five or six decades of slow change in the services aspect of the business change is happening fast.

And, in my few years of covering the profession with Funeral Director Daily I’ve come to the conclusion that, while the customs consumers choose in death care of Great Britain and North America have been different, there is somewhat of a “coming together” of those consumer choices.

There seems to be a more universal movement to cremation over traditional burial on both continents and there also seems to be movement away from the religious aspect or implications of one’s life when planning the event or services.  Finally, from my point of view, not only has Great Britain moved away from organized religion faster than North America, but the choice of “Direct Cremation” seems to be a bigger choice in the United Kingdom than North America at this time. . . . .with North America quickly moving in that direction.

Because of that, I think smart operators in North America are wise to look to what has happened to Death Care in Great Britain for ideas and insight in how to gain future market share in North America.  This report is a good place to start.

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“A servant’s attitude guided by Christ leads to a significant life”

If you work in the consumer facing Death Care business it’s pretty likely that you come into contact with Veterans of the United States Armed Forces on a consistent basis.  For me, as a funeral director, most of my time with the older veterans in my community was at funeral services where they were gathered to honor the military service of the deceased.

I’m old enough that when I started working at funeral services in 1980 those veterans who provided the volunteer Honor Guard at funeral services were veterans of World War I.  I still remember many of them including these three, all widowers,  — Harry Gulson, Frank Johnson, and Oscar Bergner.

It’s extremely important for me to continue to remember these people.

They were great guys.  . incredibly modest and they always stayed around to participate in the funeral lunch with the families of the veteran’s they were honoring.  They were all about or over 80 years old and enjoying having me, at the age of about 22, sitting down with them and telling them of my generation’s “world”.  They were sincere and greatly interested.  I learned a lot from their upbeat take on the world and their ability to let tough issues just seem to roll off their backs.

The truth be told, it was those old World War I vets that taught me, simply through their attitudes about life,  about going to work and not complaining. . . .about when you set out to do a task — finish it. . . . . and that America is worth standing up for.

I’ve seen old films of World War I and saw on those films the conditions that these men served in while in Europe.  They never let me know of those conditions. . . . simply saying that they were doing their duty for our country.

I just want to use today to let you know that Veterans Day, as it is now known, stems from what used to be called “Armistice Day”.  It’s observed on November 11 of each year because the fighting of World War I was officially ended at 11 am November 11, 1918.   Many people simply remember the date by saying “It was the 11th hour, of the 11th day, of the 11th month.

According to this article from Wikipedia, “Armistice Day” was renamed “Veterans’ Day” in 1954 and now commemorates the service of all United States Veterans.  That is in contrast to Memorial Day, which according to the same article, “specifically honors those who have died while in military service”.

Regardless of your political pursuasion, I believe that we all owe a great debt of gratitude to these warriors. . . . and all of those men and women who have served in the military of our country from the Revolutionary War all the way up to present day.

May God Bless them for their service.

Related Information —

• Here is the website of the American Battle Monuments Commission which includes information all United States military cemeteries and battle monuments located outside of the United States.

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“A servant’s attitude guided by Christ leads to a significant life”