The average cost of a funeral, with a basic metal casket and not counting cemetery charges, is $6,560, according to the National Funeral Directors Association. That’s a 72 percent increase since 1980, when the average cost was $1,809, according to the NFDA.
Those unprepared for the funeral bill may have to delay the normal process of visitation, service and interment, as evident in the recent death of Steven A. Powell.
Powell of Hamilton was stabbed to death in a neighborhood bar on Sept. 30. The family scraped together enough funds to have the body embalmed after the autopsy, but the family could not pay the total $5,000 funeral bill by Friday and burial was delayed until Monday.
Powell’s mother, Maggie Still, said she hasn’t had time to grieve over the loss because of her efforts to raise the money. She said family and friends skipped paying bills to help out.
“The fact that everybody is having it rough didn’t make matters any better. I was overwhelmed with people who have nothing. They were the first to give,” she said. “We know now how stressful this can be on a person.”
Cremation, an option that more people are choosing these days, was not possible because her son was a homicide victim, Still said.
In 2007, cremation accounted for about 35 percent of final dispositions in the United States, according to the NFDA. The organization cites figures that show 71 percent of deaths in 2008 were casketed, a 5 percent drop from 2003, compared to 79 percent of deaths being casketed in 1998.
“Cremation has skyrocketed in the last few years. I never dreamed it would be like this,” said Bob Webster of Webster Funeral Home in Fairfield.
Webster has shared his insider’s knowledge of the funeral industry in a book he wrote in 2006, “Does This Mean You’ll See Me Naked?”
“We deny death in our society. We don’t want to talk about it because we’re so afraid of death,” Webster said. “I want people to know the way it is, because it’s going to happen to all of us.”
Webster started working for Hamilton funeral homes at a young age, mowing grass and doing odd jobs until later when he accompanied his brother on calls to pick up deceased persons.
“When I started out 35 years ago, the first thing they said was, ‘I want a really nice casket for Mom.’ That’s because they had life insurance back then,” he said.
Webster said it used to be that only the wealthy and the well-educated chose to be cremated. He likens the increasing trend to the popularity of minimum insurance coverage and the “cheapening of our society.”
“Caskets have very little value anymore,” he said.
Price-shopping for funeral expenses, once thought of as rude, is common practice these days, according to Robert Breitenbach, a Middletown-based funeral director. And because funeral homes are governed by the Federal Trade Commission, they have to provide prices when asked over the phone, Breitenbach said.
“You listen before you speak. You find out what people’s circumstances are,” he said. “When people come to make arrangements, many times decisions have to be made in a short period of time. This is a business of emotion and caring. It’s pastoring in a way.”
Overall funeral costs could decrease in the coming years as the Baby Boomer generation ages, said Bill Wappner, immediate past president of the NFDA.
“The death rate is down because of demographics,” said Wappner, who runs a family funeral business in Mansfield. “Prices could level out because there’ll be more volume to spread expenses.”
Wappner said the increased costs are attributable to the same factors that impact small businesses. Employment costs for wages and benefits have increased; casket manufacturers are charging more for their services; more education is required through mortuary school and apprenticeships; and there are more government regulations.
Wappner said the Occupational Safety and Health Administration requires funeral directors to pass inspections and meet standards regarding infectious materials, ventilation, chemicals and formaldehyde regulations.
“In hard economic times, families are choosing less expensive services or partial services,” he said. “As the cremation rate increases, profits for casket companies and full service funeral homes will not increase.”
Contact this reporter at (513) 696-4542 or rwilson@coxohio.com.
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