Thursday, April 28, 2011

WHAT DOES A FUNERAL DIRECTOR DO? WELL, ITS NOT ALL ABOUT THE FUNERAL DIRECTOR.....

GUESS WHO THIS IS?

 What Does a Funeral home STAFF do? and Ladies and Gentlemen, they probably do it all!
  
  • Removal and transferring the deceased from place of death to Funeral Home.
  • Professional care of the deceased, which may include sanitary washing,  dressing, hairdressing, casketing and cosmetology. (Embalming is only authorized by a licensed embalmer)
  • Conduct a complete consultation with family members to gather necessary information and discuss specific arrangements for a funeral.
  • File all certificates, permits, affidavits, and authorizations, as may be required.
  • Acquire a requested amount of certified copies of the death certificate needed to settle the estate of the deceased.
  • Compile an obituary and place in newspapers of family’s choice.
  • Make arrangements with a family’s choice of clergy person, church, music, etc.
  • Make arrangements with cemetery, crematory, or other place of disposition.
  • The providing of a register book, prayer cards, funeral folders, and acknowledgments, as requested by a family.
  • Offer the assistance of notifying relative and friends.
  • Arrange for clergy honorariums, music, flowers, death certificates, obituaries, additional transportation, etc.
  • Care and arrangement of floral pieces and the post funeral distribution as directed by a family.
  • Arrange for pallbearers, automobiles, and special services (fraternal or military) as requested by a family.
  • Care and preservation of all floral cards, mass cards, or other memorial contributions presented to the funeral home.
  • Your funeral director, with his/her staff personnel, will direct the funeral in a most professional manner, and be in complete charge of the funeral procession to the cemetery or other place of disposition.
  • Assist a family with social security, veterans insurance, and other death-related claims.
  • A post funeral meeting, by the funeral director, with a family, to deliver such things as the register book, floral and mass cards, and to ascertain whether or not he/she can be of further assistance.

    Now, as for the funeral director, they are responsible for signing the contract,  embalming and any restorative arts if needed, and if they own the buisness, spending the money.

    Here at Avenidas Funeral Chapel have a wonderful staff to serve you, and yes, on that staff we employ a very much appreciated funeral director/embalmer. We also have very good assistant, administrator, gardener and so on, and to include me, the owner, who shows up every morning  and starts out by vacuuming and taking out the trash, and I have no problem cleaning the bathroom either.

    The point is, the Funeral Director, as educated as they are with their associates degree in mortuary science are just as much a part of the team at any funeral home, unless they choose not to be.

    My observation is that many choose not to be and refuse to take out the trash... or sweep the floor.

    Now granted, I understand that the funeral home could not run without their license, but as a funeral home owner it is nice to see that we have a funeral director on our staff that is just as humble as the rest of us.

    Don't be fooled, with a good staff and a small ego, it's not that hard and does not cost that much to provide these services.

    Semper Fi

    Miguel

    8 comments:

    1. When choosing funeral directors, you may think that it's best to go with a trusted name or a funeral home that your family has used in the past. However, you need to be aware that there are significant differences in pricing among funeral homes, and the funeral home you have trusted in the past may not be the best financial choice.

      ReplyDelete
      Replies
      1. Scarlet, yes but, many of those trusted facilities are being bought up by corporate funeral industry who run them into the ground riding on the name of days gone by. - Miguel

        Delete
    2. Funeral Directors do a very valuable job, and put up with a lot with grieving families. They make the whole process run smoothly and ease as much stress as possible for the funeral arrangements. Funeral Directors London

      ReplyDelete
    3. You've surely stressed out the important points that we must consider in choosing the best funeral service for our loved ones. Yes, it's not just a matter of the funeral director itself, it's a matter of the people who stands as a funeral director for you.

      ReplyDelete
    4. Funeral Homes have a very large profit built in to most services that they provide. The largest profit is from the purchase of a casket. A markup of up to 300% is common. A $5000 casket can cost the funeral home as little as $900. Other services are inflated as well over and above what would be considered as a reasonable profit. Visitation to use a room for 2 hours is $425. limo or hearse $400. etc. - way overpriced. A decent casket and service should cost no more that $3500 max.Embalmind should be included in that price as well as a visitation. Embalming should be no more that $175. Cremation should be no more that $1200. DO NOT OVERPAY. Request, actually demand that the entire service not cost more than what I have listed. The funeral home can and will do it for these prices if you stand your ground or tell them you will go elsewhere. The profitability for owners is obscene yet we pay whatever they ask us to. Don't be a sucker.

      ReplyDelete
    5. Thanks, I've been wondering about this. My friend is going into this business and I wanted to learn more about it. It seems like there are a lot of funeral homes in Toronto so it must be a good business to go into!

      ReplyDelete
    6. Wow, I didn't realize how much funeral directors did. I guess that goes to show it is important to choose the right funeral home. Hopefully I can find a good one for the last respects we will be giving to my loved one.
      http://www.snovergivnish.com

      ReplyDelete
    7. I really liked your article, looking forward to hear more from you. If you urgently need full spectrum of funeral services under one roof, please don’t hesitate to contact us at http://www.indianfuneraldirectors.co.uk for more information.

      ReplyDelete