topic Re: FUNERAL HOME CLOSED in Among Friends

FUNERAL HOME CLOSED

Boomernichols — Tue, 22 Aug 2023 21:06:37 GMT

Our local, one and only, funeral home has announced their closure due to extreme heat. This is a first in our area that I can recall.

They state they plan to reopen the business office next week. Have you ever heard of such?

Re: FUNERAL HOME CLOSED

catmama — Tue, 22 Aug 2023 21:10:41 GMT

I'm not surprised at this.

I worked in the office at a funeral home years ago and the viewing area and offices did not have AC. The prep rooms were climate controlled.

Most funeral homes in my area, of which there are now very few, are in much older buildings.

You wouldn't want to be at a viewing or in close proximity to anyone if it's hot.

Re: FUNERAL HOME CLOSED

We rescue cats — Tue, 22 Aug 2023 21:14:32 GMT

I wonder if the A/C is not able to accommodate for the heat, either for the visitors or for the cadavers?

Re: FUNERAL HOME CLOSED

Kachina624 — Tue, 22 Aug 2023 21:16:30 GMT

Maybe it's costing too much to run the cooler. How hot is it? What happens if somebody dies?

Re: FUNERAL HOME CLOSED

AuntG — Tue, 22 Aug 2023 21:21:39 GMT

The only local business I recall closing was a mom & pop restaurant. She'd put out a sign "Closed, too darn hot".

Re: FUNERAL HOME CLOSED

Boomernichols — Tue, 22 Aug 2023 21:48:10 GMT

Our current funeral home is about 20 years old and in tip top shape. The original one burnt to the ground as it was located next to a restaurant that burned. I guess they will store the bodies in the morgues area. It will be 102 here tomorrow before the humidity factor is added in...it feels like hell's porch.

Re: FUNERAL HOME CLOSED

Carmie — Tue, 22 Aug 2023 21:48:37 GMT

I have never heard of such a thing. Funeral Homes should all have heat and AC to stay in business. Both are a necessity.

What happens if someone dies? You just can't hold up some things.

A family member of mine is a funeral director. He doesn't sit at work all day and wait for calls, but he is reachable by phone 24/7/365. If he is not available, there is another funeral director who will cover for him.

Is just the business office closed for " walk ins" ( pre-planning, picking up death certificates, etc. ) or are they not open for business at all, even a death call?

Re: FUNERAL HOME CLOSED

bikerbabe — Wed, 23 Aug 2023 01:15:54 GMT

Funeral homes have been known to close when they cannot accommodate more services. In the meantime, they stay at the hospital/county morgue, or in temporary refrigerated containers. We had one in the hospital parking lot a few years ago.

In this case, they probably have inadequate cooling in the public spaces where people work or the viewing area.

Re: FUNERAL HOME CLOSED

simplyfriends — Wed, 23 Aug 2023 00:09:49 GMT

The funeral home is where the service might be and pre planning etc. The mortuary is where the bodies are kept. Maybe they closed the funeral home but not the mortuary. Too many unanswered questions on this one to appropriately respond.

Re: FUNERAL HOME CLOSED

RedTop — Wed, 23 Aug 2023 00:33:14 GMT

Perhaps the air conditioning unit is broken, and normal daily business cannot resume until repairs are made. This would not affect any bodies on site in the cooler.

Re: FUNERAL HOME CLOSED

781Florist — Wed, 23 Aug 2023 01:08:02 GMT

One poster mentioned that their town had almost no funeral homes now and that got me to thinking.

I remember from childhood to about my teens, we had 6 or 7 funeral homes in my city. Back then I would guess that the population was about 55,000.

Today our population is about 63,000 and we have but 2 funeral homes. They are both well established and thriving but it makes me wonder why if there are more people then why are there less funeral homes today?

Are people being cremated in much larger numbers?

BTW...both of our funeral homes are completely air conditioned and can accomodate multiple services at the same time. Maybe I just realized why we don't need so many!

Re: FUNERAL HOME CLOSED

proudlyfromNJ — Wed, 23 Aug 2023 01:10:14 GMT

@781Florist Our bodies are going to a teaching college in the city. They return the ashes to our family after two years. No funeral home involved at all. My parents did the same thing.