No One Here Gets Out Alive: Burying Dead the American Way

Resources for the Bereaved

Walker Mortuary representative Brad Walker stated his belief that the number one problem with public perception of the funeral industry derives from a lack of knowledge about the historiography of the industry, the details of the Funeral Directors profession, and a grave misunderstanding of the complexities and overarching elements of a funeral. After investigating the funeral industry for several years, the FTC enacted the “Funeral Law” to regulate the industry and prevent an ignorant populace from being taken advantage of during a time of duress. In Rest In Peace, Gary Laderman has argued that the typical funeral director depicted in the media has provided Americans with a scapegoat for the dramatic changes in everyday life to include the increased commodification of every rite of passage such as birth and marriage.[1] Unfortunately, the arrival of the World Wide Web, rise of corporate-owned funeral homes, and regulatory laws of the FTC have all increased market competition in the funeral industry resulting in inflation. Also, the proliferation of storefront casket establishments, pre-need and internet sales, low-cost alliance groups and the protection of the consumer have all benefited the bereaved. It is not that information on funeral industry practices and costs were not available before, in contrast, they were not as readily accessible. However, accessibility may not be the only issue as Americans treat the topic of death as a taboo. Most refuse to confront death until forced to do so and the thought of funeral planning, very often, is an afterthought to the material consumption of tangible items by the living. Perhaps, this is the underlying issue that has not been addressed, the purchase of funeral services is not of the living but for the living. Uncomfortable and unprepared, the bereaved hire a man/woman of the dismal trade to care for their dead without any repercussions or arguments made in their self-interest. It is the Funeral Director whom the public has placed with the authority to oversee the final journey of our lost, and yet, is it fair to judge the worth of a man in death? The following links provide resources for the bereaved to educate themselves that they might become better prepared to make an educated decision in a time of mortality.

Grief Therapy

Aurora’s Personalized Pre-need Funeral Sales

Aurora’s One Stop Planning Program

Parting’s Funeral Cost Comparison by Location

The Funeral Site’s Cost Breakdown

Funeral Consumers Alliance

San Diego Memorial Society

Veterans Affairs Administration Burial Info

Alternative Funeral Monitor

U.S. Census Industry Snapshot Cemeteries & Crematories

U.S. Census Industry Snapshot Funeral Homes and Services

Batesville Paying it Forward

Corporate Funeral Home SCI

Family Owned Walker Mortuary

Modern Marketing Strategies

 
[1] Laderman, Rest in Peace, 95.
[2] In addition to works cited, other collections have extensively illuminated the formative years of the American funeral industry and the burial rites that have become unique to American burial practices. See also: Nancy Isenberg and Andrew Burstein, Mortal Remains: Death in Early America (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2003)., Philippe Aries, The Hour of Our Death: The Classic History of Western Attitudes toward Death over the Last One Thousand Years (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1981)., Pamela R. Frese, "Anglo-American Mortuary Complex and Cultural Heritage," in Celebrations of Identity: Multiple Voices in American Ritual Performance (Westport, CT: Bergin & Garvey, 1993).
 

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