If you have read Funeral Director Daily for any length of time you will know that I am an advocate of “Permanent Memorialization” of loved ones.  My reason for that belief is pretty simple. . . 1)  It is just the way I was brought up and 2) I believe every life has meaning and should have the respect and memory of being remembered as long as possible.

By permanent memorialization I mean in a perpetually cared for cemetery, mausoleum, columbarium or other method, such as Better Place Forests or Great River Natural Burial, with some type of memorialization, such as a marker, designated to the deceased.  I should note that this “Memorialization” as I see it, can be done not only with casketed burial, but after cremation, alkaline hydrolysis, natural organic reduction, solidifying the cremated remains such as with Parting Stone, or any other method of final disposition.  What I think is “most important” is that there is some marker giving creedence to a “life that has been lived”.

Say what you will about my thoughts, but I think that remembrance and care is incredibly important for the future of humanity.  I’m a firm believer that the more “High Tech” we will become will create a synergy for “High Touch” as well — where we need connection to reality as a balance to the technology.

Here is an interesting video news story and print article of a single burial cemetery where the deceased was buried in 1833.  There was a small monument naming the deceased and today, almost 200 years later, people are still remembering her. In my book, it kind of gives reference and knowledge about a “life that has been lived”.

This Wikipedia article will give you information on all deceased U.S. Presidents and where they are buried.  It includes a photo of each of their burial monuments.  Interestingly enough, no deceased United States President has ever been cremated.  Vice-President Walter Mondale was cremated in 2021 but I believe he is the only Vice-President to be cremated.  I think it is important for our nation’s history that these Presidents are given this memorial permanence via their monuments that continues to reflect on the history of our nation.

Another bit of information foundational to the rest of this article is that this information from One World Memorials states that it is believed that one out of every three cremations has the cremated remains brought to a private home to be kept.  The United States has, it is estimated, over 2 million cremations per year which would, using this formula, mean that 600,000 to 700,000 cremated remains are brought to private homes annually.

It’s with that preamble that I’ve thought about the families of those in the North Carolina floods, or the Florida hurricanes, or most recently, the L.A. wildfires.  In L.A. alone it is estimated that 12,000 homes have been destroyed.  I cannot get over the human tragedy of not only losing your physical belongings but also losing the emotional bonds that are more than likely tied together by having your loved one’s cremated remains in proximity to you at your home.

This article that I found, dated in 2021,  titled “Recovering cremains in the aftermath of fires” points out:

One of the common threads that have surfaced from the interviews with the fire survivors is an appreciation of the non-material things in life. Although their experiences have been devastating and heartbreaking, they have all survived with renewed gratefulness for everything that they do have- memories, supportive family and friends, their health. They have come to terms with their losses and have new perspectives on what they value in life. The one material thing that they could not accept losing was the cremains of their loved ones. (Highlight provided by Funeral Director Daily)

Related Article —  “Day of Remembrance held at once forgotten cemetery”.  Loudon Now (VA)

Tom Anderson
Funeral Director Daily

Funeral Director Daily take:  We can probably chalk up the loss of cremated remains in disasters to the thought process that “the best laid plans can go awry”.  I’m guessing that very few who bring home cremated remains think about the loss of those precious remains via storms, hurricanes, floods, or fires.

And once that loss occurs. . . it is permanent and, for many, brings mental health challenges.

So, do we as funeral directors and advisors to these people have a greater responsibility than we seem to take at this time, to inform the clientele of what could happen without the idea of permanent memorialization?

Related Thought —  As cultural changes have occurred that includes many in the urban population living with pets such as dogs and cats, does this give greater creedence to pet cemeteries?

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

It was less than two years ago in August 2023 when I heard the news about the fire that ravaged Lahaina and some other areas of Maui.  Turning on the news the scene looked like something I’d never seen in my lifetime and almost apocalyptic.  The Maui fire of 2023 destroyed approximately 6,271 acres and as I write this article as of Thursday (January 9) afternoon it is expected that the fires burning in the Los Angeles area are expected to consume from 27,000 to over 40,000 acres of California.

Truly, it is a tragedy of major proportions and people of that area are going to need help getting back on their feet.  And I’m guessing that there will be more than a couple of death care establishments and cemeteries that will have had their properties ravaged by the fire also.  In my opinion, it is imperative that NFDA and all colleagues help out in this situation where we can.

These fires have also brought a stark reality back to me and the days when I operated our business   —   that is, “Is your funeral home protected via insurance should something like this happen to you?”

Virtually every business has property and casualty insurance and, especially in this day of online business, it is very easy to re-new policies in effect from year to year.  While that can be well and good, and pretty simple, ask yourself if doing that is a sound way to know that you are properly insured?

Insurance is a simple concept. . .where the risks of many are pooled for the potential loss of one.  However, the actual reality of what your policy covers is not a simple statement.

In Minnesota we are fortunate that our MFDA (Minnesota Funeral Directors Association) puts on regional meetings every year in September.  Those meetings give practicing funeral directors and funeral home owners the ability to come together with our state association staff and the University of Minnesota School of Mortuary Science staff as well as representatives from our association’s preferred providers of Preneed insurance and property and casualty insurance.  It’s a great place to learn with a question and answer period with all providers.

Just this September a question was asked of the property and casualty insurer.  The question was about how much value to put on your building’s insurance policy.  The answer was interesting, and won’t surprise you as it was said that inflation and values had skyrocketed in the last couple of years and a “fixed property value” might leave one short of rebuilding money in the case of a loss.

Tom Anderson
Funeral Director Daily

It was suggested that you really need to know what a “replacement cost” for your facility might be and make sure that your policy was structured in a way that you would have enough insurance value to rebuild.  Simply from cumulative inflation since 2021 America has seen an approximately 22% increase in costs.  So, most simply, a building that you think would be worth $1 million might actually cost at least $1,220,000 if completely destroyed.

It sounds simple, but evidently the definition of “replacement cost” in a policy does not always mean what you might think “replacement cost” may mean.

I don’t pretend to be an expert on insurance, but that simple fact tells me that a good sit-down discussion with my agent discussing values, potential premiums, and all the available options, including deductible amounts should be an annual occurence.  And make sure that you understand what the nomenclature of the policy actually means. . . . . necessary insurance is too vital to your operation to not understand what you are paying for.

In my opinion, there is more than enough to worry about with a potential fire, tornado, hurricane, or water loss without having to worry about whether your insurance, and the nomenclature in the policy will cover the loss.

In the meantime, if you haven’t already, now is probably a pretty good time to say a prayer for our colleagues in the affected area of California.  They are probably in the process of figuring out how to get their businesses back up and running at the same time that client families also need their help in taking care of their loved ones.

National Funeral Directors Association (NFDA):  Click here to learn how to help our California colleagues

Information from the Red Cross on obtaining help or giving to the California Fire relief effort.

Related —  Here are a couple of related articles written in the last part of 2024 about the Property and Casualty insurance situation moving forward.  It’s amazing to me how the outlook may have changed so much, because of the current California situation, in the short time since these articles were written:

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