Costs, convenience, wishes of deceased affect funeral decisions

Bereaved families downsize funerals, opt for cremations amidst hard times

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By Cornelius Frolik, Staff Writer Updated 10:11 AM Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Consumers typically spend more on funerals than any other one-time purchase except a home or vehicle.

The average cost of an adult funeral in 2009 was $6,560, a 17.5 percent increase from 2004, according to the National Funeral Directors Association.

The bill can exceed $10,000 when added to it are vaults, limousines, obituaries, flowers and other burial costs.

But cremation, with a basic urn and limited memorial service, on average costs about $1,650, according to the Cremation Association of North America. The price of interment also tends to be considerably less.

At Woodland Cemetery and Arboretum in Dayton, an adult grave is $1,695, compared to $995 for a cremation burial space, which is less than half the size.

Funeral industry groups and local funeral directors say the growing popularity of cremation is not entirely attributable to the money it saves, but the price tag definitely makes it more attractive in these rough economic times.

“We are seeing a slight shift from traditional services — public visitation, public funeral service and the earth burial with a casket — to more people selecting cremation as a service option,” said Tami Baird, co-owner of Baird Funeral Home in Troy. “But that means many different things — that can mean immediate cremation or services with their loved ones present and then a cremation that follows.”

U.S. cremations up

The cremation rate in the United States began steadily climbing in the 1960s, after the Vatican announced its approval of the activity for Catholics.

In 1980, about one in 10 people who died in the U.S. were cremated, according to the cremation association. By 2009, the rate of cremation reached about 37 percent, and it is expected to represent more than half of all deaths by 2018.

In Ohio, 35,744 of the 107,268 people who died in 2009 were cremated, compared to 30,739 cremations out of 106,772 deaths in 2007, according to the association.

The trend is also apparent in the number of caskets funeral homes purchase each year.

In 2009, funeral directors across the nation bought 1.675 million caskets, down from 1.85 million in 2000, according to the Casket and Funeral Supply Association of America.

“We theorize that there were more families that chose cremation due to economic conditions,” said Mark Allen, the association’s executive director. “There was also a slight decline in the quarterly death rate.”

A 2005 (pre-recession) study released by Wirthlin Worldwide revealed people chose cremation because they believed it saves money, uses less land and is simpler.

Local cremation rates have increased by about 1 percent each year, said Dave FitzSimmons, president and CEO of Woodland Cemetery and Arboretum.

Cremation burials account for about 35 percent of the cemetery’s interments.

FitzSimmons said he believes more people are choosing cremation because it is more convenient and not necessarily because it is cheaper.

“A lot of the deaths that occur in Florida are cremated there, and it is a fairly easy process to bring the cremated remains in an urn up here for burial, ” he said. “Shipping them up in a casket for a full-body burial is much more expensive.”

FitzSimmons noted also that only about 30 percent of cremated remains are memorialized at a burial site or mausoleum. He said many families will take the urns home.

A shift?

Gary Heller, owner of Marker & Heller Funeral Homes, which has locations in Dayton and Huber Heights, said consumers have always made funeral decisions with their budgets in mind, but nowadays they more carefully watch their pocketbooks while simultaneously attempting to honor the final wishes of their deceased loved ones.

“I think people do economize on certain things, but we have a lot of people repeat what a parent or spouse had — we see many people planning ahead,” he said. “They may not buy an as-expensive urn, they may shorten their visitation time or do everything in one day, but a lot of times that’s for their convenience.”

Baird said cremation can be less expensive, because there is no need for a casket, a vault and other burial necessities.

Even so, she said many consumers often use the savings from the cremation to buy other arrangements for their loved ones.

“They may make reductions in other areas to allow for flowers, video tributes and similar types of things,” she said. “If they do not have a casket burial, they may have some funds to allow for other memorial items.”

Stephen Gehlert, executive director of the Ohio Funeral Directors Association, agrees. “It’s all about what an individual chooses,” he said. “A funeral director’s job is to make sure you are comfortable with your decisions.”