Weird Things Funeral Directors Do | FFFW 232

Happy April 10th- what a special day! What makes today special, you may ask? Well, today is issue number 232 of the FFFW- and 232 is a palindromic number! And I, personally, LOVE palindromes!

Some other cool ones include Racecar, taco cat, and “Cigar? Toss it in a can. It is so tragic.”

“The announcement that Facebook will delete live streams older than 30 days reveals a critical disconnect between platform policies and the reality of grief. Grief doesn’t follow a 30-day timeline. Our data shows 30% of funeral viewings happen after that 30-day window. For an average funeral home, that’s over 2,500 families annually who will seek comfort in a service recording only to find it gone. This should serve as a wake-up call for funeral professionals to invest in solutions where they maintain ownership and control of their content, rather than entrusting these precious memories to platforms with competing priorities.” – Shane White, CTO of MemoryShare

MemoryShare is here to help.

Funeral homes affected by these changes can schedule a call with MemoryShare to receive 3 months of unlimited streaming and recording. Their team will handle all training, transfer your existing videos, and provide a complimentary 20-minute training session for your staff. MemoryShare is committed to funeral homes and ensuring a smooth transition with zero disruption for the families you serve.

Call 469-983-4832 to learn more and meet with a MemoryShare professional who will guide you through the process. Mention Disrupt/Connecting Directors to claim a bonus gift!

8 Things Only Funeral Directors Do Without Realizing It’s Super Weird

#1: You Refer to Death Certificates Like You’re on a True Crime Show
“Still waiting on the cert. ME’s dragging his feet again.”
You’re not solving a murder — you’re just trying to file paperwork so the insurance company can calm down.

#2: You’ve Ever Described a Body as ‘Good-Looking’ and Meant It as a Compliment
“Oh yeah, she came out really nice.”
To outsiders, that’s alarming.
To you, it’s top-tier praise.

#3: You’ve Judged a Church by How Fast You Can Park the Hearse There
Can’t back in? Bad church.
Tight lot? Bad church.
One-way entrance with no turn radius and a flower truck blocking the exit? The worst church.

#4: You’ve Said “Do You Have Clothes for Them?” While Holding a Sandwich
It’s not that you’re cold-hearted — you just don’t get phased anymore. Ham on rye in one hand, human logistics in the other.

#5: You Know Which Local Pastors Go Over 25 Minutes… and Secretly Time Them
“Reverend Thompson just started with ‘Webster’s defines grief as…’ so we’re lookin’ at a minimum of 38 minutes.”

#6: You Can Load a Cot in One Smooth Motion with One Hand While Holding a Set of Keys in Your Teeth
You’re like a ninja if the ninja had a button-down shirt, orthopedic shoes, and 3 back-up pens in their front pocket.

#7: You Can Spot a Vault Truck From a Mile Away
“Oh look, Wilbert’s early.”
That’s not normal. That’s sixth-sense, trenchcoat-in-the-rain, funeral director stuff.

#8: You’ve Ever Said, “This One’s a Double Grave. We’ll Need the Lowering Device Extenders”
And you said it like you were ordering a side of ranch.

Trivia

Choose the correct answer and you’ll see a puppy. Get it wrong and you’ll see someone hurting themselves.

Before formaldehyde became the embalming fluid of choice, what substance was often used to preserve bodies during the Civil War?

Answer Choices:
A. Sugar Water
B. Arsenic
C. Gin

You Otter Be Proud

Here’s some good news going on in the profession.

1. I work in a job nobody wants and do it with my dad, it’s brought us closer than ever
2. People Magazine Covers Funeral Profession Story
3. Fifth-generation funeral director Jeff Monreal helps families grieve, celebrate loved ones

Weird Ways That Cemeteries & Caskets Made News on Election Day

As this election season seems to have been one of the oddest in American history, it might not be a surprise that last week, several cemeteries and a former president’s casket shared the news spotlight with pundits and polling places. Because … why not?

Just check out these election day headlines — and what deathcare can learn from them:

Were Kansas-area Republicans being ironic when they picked a “mortuary” as their election night watch party? Whatever their strategy, Cozine Life Events Center probably hosted one of the most celebratory and lively events in its history. The facility is described as “part of the Cozine Memorial Group, ‘conveniently located adjacent to beautiful Kensington Gardens cemetery in thriving northeast Wichita.’” Although the center often plays host to large funerals and receptions, a reporter from The Wichita Eagle found a crowd of “giddy Republicans on cellphones and tablets counting up win after win” last Tuesday.

If you’ve had reservations about opening your event space (or adding one) for community events, the success of this party should reassure you that there will always be occasions and audiences who love to gather in lovely places.

Inspired by Susan B. Anthony’s “defiant act of voting” in the 1872 presidential election, women voters in Rochester, New York covered her gravestone with their “I voted” stickers last week. It’s a tradition that began during the 2016 Clinton vs. Trump election cycle and continued with the 2024 race — both of which offered the potential outcome of electing the country’s first female president. In 2020, officials at Mount Hope Cemetery placed plexiglass around the stones of Anthony and her sister to protect the granite from the expected barrage of stickers. Incidentally, Anthony’s home — and the place where she was arrested two weeks after her crime — is now a museum … as well as an early voting location.

This physical, intentional tribute to someone whom these passionate visitors never met but nonetheless admired shows the enduring value of permanent memorialization. Having a place to go to honor someone who has passed is still important.

Perhaps not coincidentally, the U.S. Army released a “heavily redacted” report detailing an August  incident involving a member of Donald Trump’s staff at Arlington National Cemetery. According to reports, the staffer shoved a cemetery official who was trying to enforce the cemetery’s photography policies. Although Trump was invited to Arlington by family members of service members killed in the 2021 during their withdrawal from Afghanistan, it is assumed that the cemetery official believed photographs of the ceremony would have framed the visit as a campaign-related event. Federal law prohibits campaign and election-related activities within Army national military cemeteries. The investigation is still ongoing.

Rules are rules, and whatever rules you have in place at your funeral home or cemetery have to be enforced — just like this cemetery official was trying to do. At the same time, no one wants a “scene,” an altercation, or a confrontation that has to involve law enforcement. Although no one can prepare for every potential problem during such highly-emotional events as funerals, but sharing the rules, regulations, and expectations ahead of time and having a response plan in place should anything occur could go a long way.

Several pieces of presidential memorabilia will be up for auction on November 22, including the flag that draped Abraham Lincoln’s casket during its 1600-mile, seven-state, and two-week journey on Lincoln’s funeral train. The flag, on the back of which Lincoln’s April 14, 1865 assassination date is inked, is expected to sell for between $800,000 and $1.2 million.

Very few funeral directors will conduct services for presidents, dignitaries, or celebrities, and not every flag, program, or trinket will become valuable memorabilia worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. But as you know, families will find momentous value in the treasured mementos the keep from their loved ones’ life celebrations or memorial services, whether it’s the flag from the casket of a veteran, a flower from the pall of a beloved mom, or the beautiful register book or order of service you provide for them.

Aubrey is a lifelong writer who has served in the funeral industry since 2016. After graduating from Dallas Institute of Funeral Service, she knew she wanted to continue to serve families through her writing, but didn’t know how.

Soon after, Aubrey experienced a “lightbulb” moment and started her eulogy writing business, Eulogies by Aubrey, in 2019.

Aubrey has written professionally since 2012, covering not only funeral-related topics and gift trends, but also for TV guide listings, as well as legal topics. She began writing for US Urns Online in 2019.

Aubrey’s work has been featured in Huffpost, Coming of Age Magazine, and 1800Flowers.com. She holds certifications in Cremation Arrangement (ICCFA) and Burial at Sea (NEBAS), and as of 2023, is a trained and certified birth and bereavement doula (SBD). Aubrey is currently studying toward her degree in Business Administration.