While many events and simple pleasures are being put on hold due to COVID-19 lockdowns and social-distancing policies, there is no way to put grief on hold. Many families across the USA and, frankly, the world, are having to manage the many changes affecting the funerals of their loved ones. Some families have opted to wait until social distancing guidelines become less stringent to plan their loved one’s funerals, while others are dealing with the hardship sooner rather than later.
Luckily, families are not alone in navigating these decisions. For example, All Faiths Funeral Home in Grand Island, Nebraska, said they’re helping families still organize services during this time, while following social distancing guidelines.
“Most of our funerals are 10 or less. Many of the funerals are being held in the funeral home chapel not at a church because of the church closures and so forth. We have 10 family members who are allowed to be a part of the service,” said All Faiths Funeral Home Owner Dan Naranjo.
It can be daunting to decide the few 10 people that are part of the service, but there are several options for sharing the service. For those who are unable to attend in-person due to the guidelines put in place, many funeral homes and online platforms are offering a *live* virtual service. As nearly every memorial service must now incorporate an online component, the National Funeral Directors Association is offering guidance on how to plan and host a virtual funeral. Even basic videoconferencing technologies can often accommodate a clergy person speaking, the performance of music, and opportunities to play videos.
In addition to small gatherings and video services, many families are opting to wait until the situation stabilizes to hold their loved one’s memorial. Dutch Nie, a funeral director for Nie Family Funeral Homes in Ann Arbor, Michigan, states that “While there’s an immediate need to acknowledge a loved one’s death through some sort of virtual observance,” he said, “many families are opting for a larger in-person event once it becomes safe to do so. Nie said one new development was “that families are booking out (his funeral home) in June, July and August.” That ability to plan ahead is a change of pace for the funeral home industry, Nie noted. Although families often have six months or more to plan out the perfect wedding, the average funeral gets put together with just a few days’ notice.
While the funeral services industry is unpleasant by nature, the inevitability of death keeps demand for its services intact. And it’s no shock that cemeteries and funeral homes are bearing the brunt of social-distancing related limits on the gathering size at funerals. Therefore, it requires creative, dedicated communities and providers to ensure that those close to the families, regardless of location or availability, are still part of a loved ones journey.