The Wingham Advance-Times, 1974-02-07, Page 15Crossroads
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Publisiied every nr!I The Listowel :B> .r, The WirM . ,Advance -Times
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The following inquiry into :cur-
rent . burial ^practices : examines
only methods, of physical dispo-`
sition of the deceased and .makes
no attempt at inspecting religious,
affiliations with the H4103-
SpecificexaminatiOsefeasket
costs,cemetery lot .utkeepi
cremation, roles of funeraldirec-
tor s and the manufacture of caste
11, leets have been made. ;..
•
Some of the • subjects inter-
viewed will remain anonymous
so:thatpersonalities Will not eon -
diet or, interfere with the facts.
FACT:Although stating that
the . highest overhead cost in.
building any one casket is $I80,
the vice president and general
40 Manager- of a casket factory re-
fused to say how much the casket
will be sold for to the various
funeral homes across 'the count
, try.
"Thisis something we are not
at liberty to disclose. It has al-
ways been understood that we ,
don't divulge.what we charge the
funeral director,but if he wants
to tell his purchasers,
• Funeral directors contacted,
however, did not choose to
answer the question. Qne of the
area, morticians said, . "I don't
feel prepared to=answer that"
Another funeral director did
say,'\ though, that his hifghest
priced' casket was $1,100 and
added that other fun}'al home
prices for the caskets. "may go
further."
FACT:, Cremation is not the
answer to a low-priced funeral,
Crematoriuuns require that the
body be eniclbsed in a casket, thus
that Cost is not deleted. and . the
funeral , services are ;generally
the same. An official from a
UaMiiton crematium listed .the
cost of cremation at $85, with an
addition of $15 for disposition of
the ashes, if requested. Add that
to funeral service costs, ceme-
tery'lot price and upkeep and the
cost.may he a little less, but not
by rob much. The Main saving in
cremation; its about $40 to $55 on.
the •brave=digging fee.
A member of an area cemetery
board says ; even the remains
after cremation are usually bur-
ied. "T
ur-ied.'i he•ashes come through the
mail in. a,. little box," 'he says,
"and they are usually buriedin a
family plot for about *
He said, "In 'Toronto they dig
the grave for cremate remains-
by drilling post holes, but„here we
dig down two or three feet with a
.spade." •
For those who wish cremation,
"the service is the same," says
one area` mortickan.' "The only
difference is that instead ofgoing
to a cemetery for burial the de-
ceased would be taken to a
crematorium for cremation." •
FACT: The funeral service and
all that it entails is not a dying
business, but rather the business
SPRAYS Ohl LACQUER: An employee of a local casket factory sprays lacquer onto one of
the 70 or so caskets built' each week in the plant.
of dying. "In the last ,two or threeMany."
- ea e've had.esc la . - -, trier* r 1Vlost popular right now, he
ytag
head because of higher costs and mid, is probably ani .elm or oak
taxes," sato .a i oortician.` “And Casket. "Even t vary in .style.
people'demand good facilities, If ; nd Price , ..btft'they seem to be
you don't provide them,.... you're'
e most popular. '
notgoingy in his 25 years 'in the ca
w to get;tho bursi�ess , •''.� ,�
Like everything, .+else, funeral ,
costs' are ' of '' .'
..CASKET MAI> UFACTURE:
Thecost of building gaskets
ranges from $60 to 5180 depending
entheir quality, Said the casket
factor, vice president, but ther
average isf around; ;125,.
Various:materials. used in their .,
construction ''include lumber'
anufacturing'business,,
em spent in his current znan
factory which produces about 70
caskets a week, the vice
resident has seen many changes
i the public's tastes.
"When I came here. first 1
ould say that 65Per cent of bur
usiness was cloth. flow '95. per
nt is hardwood,, It definitely
ranges with die economy, A W
(oak, elrn mahogany, ash, .quart Casketis like a car. You can doll
ter -cut" ; oak, .pine ..and cotton- ;' up with better handles, better
wood)steel handles, cottoi , , : el ret; better interior styles and:
excelsior .(a form of scut -up,, .what have you."
wood), satin, velvet and crepe,
Be said some of these materif.
als are very definitely getting
scarce. "I buy ahead of myself by
three -or four ; months. Pow you
need tore capital' because \srou.
have tore
larger quantities at
time." . The reason for buying this; f
way is because of ` the "shortage,«:
THE MORTICIANS:,
One, question frequently asked
of funeral directors or morticians
s they are sometimes referred
, is whether or not ,embalming-
necessary.
One funeral director said, '"By
wit is not mandatory but it: is
,of raw materials." He adds, "it 'generally practised® ••because . of
has nothing to do with the energy',Sanitation and preservation .
crisis."
And if a body is sentout of On-
tario or put on a common carrier
at has to be embaltned before it
:;can be transported." in the latter
case embalming is mandatory,
he said. •
Funeral homes are becoming a
„flnore; specialized line. Years ago
;funeral directors usually sold.
x furnitur as -,well. "This was be-
'" ifs of they does r- +`f�j /, j� +�
' .' • L {ytv f T I'ce `" 'nu M af.;.r e .
The vice president blames the:
shortage on the plants. • "I don't
think :ani! .plant in Ontario is pro,
clueing '100' per Cent."
He also lists a scarcity of labor
as one of the influencing factors
and says manpower ;shortages`,
are worse in the summer months.
The future looks sound for hit
factory °duv to the bet that
-g#110#0, i i � 63M t+` •;'tors!�
now and, as `t e` spokesman said,,
"We feel we give good, "service
and make good products." '-
Even a scarcity of lots cannot
affect him because "cremation is
the next answer and people still
buy a casket for the two or three
nights -prior to'cremation."
"I, think cremation is the
answer for the future, too."
If there is a scarcity of ceme-
tery lots,' and ,there are mixed
opinions . on that prospect, we
found, there may be an increase
in the number of 'people willing
their bodies to science. Will this
affect a casket factory's opera-
tion?
"It won't affect us at all, be-
cause science will only -accept so
THE FUNERAL .SERVICE and all that it entails; casket
•factories, funeral horses crematoriums, cemeteries and
more, is not a dying business but, rather, the business of
dying.
APPLIes POLISH: An �ennpi�oybe rubs polish initis a
casket fal4Ory. The factory bui ldS caskets at an (ler
ori; they made to les, and.
: ^l'e"rs' and furniture got tied in
There are fewer funeral homes
now, says one of the morticians,
but they are larger. "Because of
skyrocketing costs of operation it
isn't as . economical to run a
—nailer operation today."
t ees are determined by pro-
fessional services, the facilities
of the funeral home and the
selection of casket....
The funeral service most fre-
quently includes . the "profes-
sional and personal services of
the funeral director and staff, use
of facilities and .equipment,
motor equipment and casket."
"With a complete freedom of
choice,'a family is able to select a
funeral in the price range they
desire, including a minimum or
committal type of service which
is available from most funeral
directors for below $200, de-
pending on area conditions and
circumstances," said one area
director.
He pointed out that often un-
noticed by the public are the
many . funerals conducted each
year by funeral homes without
charge because the families have
no funds.
In 1968 Humber College began
its Funeral Service Education.,
Program in co-operation with the
Board of Administration and the
Funeral Directors' Act of Onta-
rio.
The program is the require-
ment for funeral licensing in the
province and the curriculum be-
gins each September continuing
to approximately mid-May, with
a total of two semesters.
After successful completion of
in -college training a student ob-
tains employment with a funeral
home and registers with the
Board of Administration for a
period of 15 months.
After this period the student
writes his final examinations
which are furnished by the board.
Tuition is $125 for each
semester plus lab fees and books.
Admission requirements are a
Grade 12 high school diploma or
its equivalent.
What is the role of the funeral
director? "Perhaps no other
service rendered the public is as
intimate and personal as that of '
the funeral director . . . The
funeral director of your choice
should be one who is able to pro-
vide dignified and fitting services
for people in all walks of life."
A mortician's opinion of cre-
mation? "I am not satisfied it is
the right thing at the present
tithe. If one day burial space was
at a premium, and there had to be
a alternate way of going about
it, then I would say cremation is
fine." He cited England as one
country where cremation is very
widely used. because "it has °a
large population and small
amount of land, so burial space is
at a premium there." .
He stated that neither the
casket factory nor the funeral
homes are affected by crema-
tions.
"The traditional funeral does
not have to be changed because of
cremation. In our experience, at
least, it has been that.
• ."A crematorium will not ac-
cept a body for crematio unless
it is in a container or casket ... It
might be a Tittle bit less expen-
sive to be cremated than to buy a
plot and pay for the grave
opening; in the city particularly
because graves are costly in the
city."
CREMATION:
Graves are, indeed, costly in
the city and cremation in the
.urban centres is- certainly be-
coming a more accepted method
of burial. One nearby cremato-
rium has been showing a 15 per
tent increase every year, says a
spokesman, and it has been in
existence for 12 years now.
"Certainly we're going to run
out of space," he said. "It's
inevitable."
Perhaps it is, but there is
another reason for the upward
trend in cremation.
"We're only reverting back to
the original method of burial
when the Romans practised cre-
mation. In those times only the
poor were buried and the rich
were cremated." He adds that
cremation "could be reaching
that status once again."
So, aside from the practical
reasonof diminishing burial
room, cremation may well
become the method of burial for
the future because of. 'style and
vogue motivations. As in life, we
Will in death, keep up with the
Joneses and go out in style.
"Attitudes are definitely
changing toward cremation,"
said the spokesman. Has he
chosen to be cremated?
"Certainly. I wouldn't be in it if
I did not believe in it to that ex-
tent. I believe it is the common-
sense, practical solution to the
land space problem."
GREAT SHAPE:
A cemetery board spokesman,
however, does not believe there is
a land shortage for cemeteries, at
least .not in the rural areas. "I
wouldn't say there will be any
shortage in country cemeteries
for at least 25 years.
"The cities," he adds, "are in,
trouble.;' ' `
The dost of two grave lots in
some urban centres can befrom
$600 to $800 compared 'with' a .
price of $100 for two lots in the
country,
the cemetery board member,
who also sells and engraves
headstones, works in 20 ceme1
teries .in the district and says
each one is "in great shape",
He said, "Harriston cemetery
land is in good shape for fifty
years" and he listed Durham,
Arthur, Mount Forest and other
towns as having enough 'ceme-
tery land to last "at least 25
years."
He said his price for "setting up
and everything is 60 per cent
more than the cost of the raw
material." '
Average cost for laying a foun-
dation, he said, is $30 and his
carving and engraving price
averages from $75 to $100. A
headstone, engraved, averages
around $350 to $400 although they
"can go as high as $3,000."
One stone can usually suffice
for two people, maybe even
three.
So, once two plots are pur-
chased for an average of $50 per
plot, it would cost around $50 to
have each grave dug, if it is a ce-
ment roughbox you're talking
about. If it's wooden, it would
cost you $15 more because they
cause more work.
"The reason is that over a
ten-year period the wooden" rough
box will cause the grave to cave
in approximately four times and
that requires more seeding and
landscaping and more topsoil
each spring," he explained.
The wooden roughbox is gen-
erally included in the basic price
of the funeral, he said, and the
plain.cement.liner runs from $70
to about $75 and could cost up to
$120 or more if waterproofing and
caulking are added.
Most cemeteries are now in-
volved with the perpetual care
program under which 35 per cent
of the cost of each lot must be in-
vested in government approved
bonds and annuities so as to
supply enough money to take
care of the cemetery grounds .. .
perpetually.
It is a government supervised
program and, says a cemetery
spokesman, "actually cares only
for the grounds and graves and
not the headstones."
Before the perpetual care pro-
gram came about cemeteries
charged a $2.00 fee for annual
care which included rutting the
grass.
Of,all the subjects,intervived
none complained about a lack of
business. The, reason is simple,
there is none.,
Asitwas so;apt y put, thereare.
.more people in Canada and,
above and beyond'. that; it Would
seem that = na" one 'part of the
funeral business can lose-
Certaitly; : casket. factories
won't close' . down because a
casket is used sit virtually all cir-
cumstances involving death,
even cremation: `
The funeral directors will not
be left out because the traditional
funeral service is traditional.
And ` creillatoriums are being
used more and more because of
cemetery -shortages in.cities; and
what happens in cities usually,
sooner or later, comes to the
country. And don't forget the
prestige of cremation. Trendaiat-
tract! .
As far as cemeteries in rural
areas, the shortage Is currently
non-existent and its evils will be
dealt with in 20 to 25 years. And in
cities either cremation is re-
lieving the shortage burden or, as
one fellow interviewed said, "As
long as people die, we'll simply
have to find places to bury them.
It's.as simple as that."
In other words, the business
behind death is going full force
and if the prices are going up .. .
who can kick? After all, have you
a choice? One contacted source
said an area funeral home had 96
services last year alone, although
the average is 50.
No, there is no way out, or
rather there are a lot of ways out
but no way outf getting out of
the ways out, except for one
thing. If we all stopped dying.
But, though science is working on
ways of lengthening lite and even
preventing death, it's inevitable
that we will not last forever. So,
the businesses of casket facto-
ries, funeral homes, cremato-
riums, cemeteries, florists and
others, goes on' and is no en-
dangered species.
Using information collected
from subjects interviewed for
this article, let us, tally up an
approximate cost of an average,
supposed funeral.
With high-priced caskets in the
range of $1,300 or over, we'll say
$800 is enough for -one. We won't
even count in added funeral serv-
ice costs, which would most cer-
tainly add to the total, because
most funeral directors did not
wish to discuss this area.
After the casket cost we have
the plot at about $50 (in the
country) plus the digging of the
grave at $50. Of course, this cost
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