Meadbh
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
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Call the medical school of your choice and ask for the Department of Anatomy.
Funeral Plans
- Thread starter ferco
- Start date
Call the medical school of your choice and ask for the Department of Anatomy.
Orchidflower
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
- Joined
- Mar 10, 2007
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Much to my surprise, my mother prepaid for her cremated ashes to be shipped to her already paid for plot where she was born in the South. I guess they sweep up the ashes and whatnot and put it in a cardboard box to be shipped by UPS, FedEx or the Post Office. It was pretty pricey, too..like $2200 or a little more than that.
Now that I've read all these posts I'm glad I have the paperwork here to verify it's been paid for already. Thanks for the unfortunate information that there are so many scammers out there gouging grieving families. How sad to be exposed to greedy pigs at such a vulnerable time for the family and loved ones...very sad comment about the funeral industry I'll say.
Now that I've read all these posts I'm glad I have the paperwork here to verify it's been paid for already. Thanks for the unfortunate information that there are so many scammers out there gouging grieving families. How sad to be exposed to greedy pigs at such a vulnerable time for the family and loved ones...very sad comment about the funeral industry I'll say.
happy2bretired
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
After my husband's father died, we visited a local funeral home to make some of our arrangements. We bought a plot, vaults and selected what we wanted engraved on our headstones. I'm very grateful that we did that when we did. Within two years my husband died and all the preplanned arrangements helped tremendously.
When we bought the plot, we bought one where the bodies will be stacked on top of each other. I know this sounds morbid, but, my husband and I joked about it when we bought the plot....joking about who would be on top.
It always makes me smile when I visit the cemetery.
When we bought the plot, we bought one where the bodies will be stacked on top of each other. I know this sounds morbid, but, my husband and I joked about it when we bought the plot....joking about who would be on top.
It always makes me smile when I visit the cemetery.
freebird5825
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
This is not morbid, but an wonderful story about a good joke shared....When we bought the plot, we bought one where the bodies will be stacked on top of each other. I know this sounds morbid, but, my husband and I joked about it when we bought the plot....joking about who would be on top.
You made me smile.
DangerMouse
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Whatever you do, put it in some kind of formal documentation. FIL died recently, and MIL seemed to disregard everything he had ever said about what he wanted to happen after he died. He wanted to be cremated, MIL had him buried. She maintained he changed his mind in the last few weeks of his life which everyone who knew him felt was unlikely. However, when a death has happened the last thing most people want to do is to rock the boat.
After the fiasco with FIL I have decided I do not want a funeral or a service. Have me cremated and sprinkle me on a nice clifftop in a warm climate overlooking the ocean.
After the fiasco with FIL I have decided I do not want a funeral or a service. Have me cremated and sprinkle me on a nice clifftop in a warm climate overlooking the ocean.
Moemg
Gone but not forgotten
When we bought the plot, we bought one where the bodies will be stacked on top of each other. I know this sounds morbid, but, my husband and I joked about it when we bought the plot....joking about who would be on top.
My parents plots are the same way and the family joke is this is the only time Mom will be on the top . If you knew my parents (very very catholic ) you would see how hysterical this is .
Goonie
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Fortunately, we have a very nice family owned funeral home in town. The same family has owned and operated it for several generations...and the youngun's (now in their 20's & early 30's) are beginning to take the reins little by little, so their parents will be able to just be there to offer support and comfort for the grieving families.
Our family has been doing business with them for generations as well, and they're almost like family to us and many others in the community. They've never tried to sell us anything other than what we've wanted....you know the "for ONLY a few hundred dollars more..." routine. In fact they have suggested spending less on several occasions, because "people aren't going to be here to check out the casket like it was a new set of wheels. They'll be here to say their 'good-byes' and offer you their words of comfort, and with all of the flower arrangements, the casket won't really be noticed that much".
They really go out of their way to help in every way possible. Even so far as helping make arrangements for the luncheon after the funeral, and following up in the weeks after the funeral to see if there is anything else they can do to help the family with paperwork and such.
Back in the 1950's, my family (parents, grandparents, uncles & aunts) purchased burial plots at one of the local cemeteries...all very close together. Only three plots remain 'uninhabited'...one great-aunt, my Mom, and me. Hopefully they'll remain unused for MANY years to come!!! And like the funeral home, this cemetery is a family owned & operated one, and has been since it's inception in the early 1900's.
As for funeral arrangements, our family has always been of the mind that "Ya'll can do whatever ya want for my funeral....'cause at that point in time, I'll be dead and won't give a hoot one way or t'other". And thus far, there's never been any arguing or fighting over what should or should not be done...of course most our family has always been pretty laid back and easy going!!!
My funeral is to be 'short & sweet', with a steak fry and potluck afterwards!!! (a.k.a. P-A-R-T-Y ! ! !)
Our family has been doing business with them for generations as well, and they're almost like family to us and many others in the community. They've never tried to sell us anything other than what we've wanted....you know the "for ONLY a few hundred dollars more..." routine. In fact they have suggested spending less on several occasions, because "people aren't going to be here to check out the casket like it was a new set of wheels. They'll be here to say their 'good-byes' and offer you their words of comfort, and with all of the flower arrangements, the casket won't really be noticed that much".
They really go out of their way to help in every way possible. Even so far as helping make arrangements for the luncheon after the funeral, and following up in the weeks after the funeral to see if there is anything else they can do to help the family with paperwork and such.
Back in the 1950's, my family (parents, grandparents, uncles & aunts) purchased burial plots at one of the local cemeteries...all very close together. Only three plots remain 'uninhabited'...one great-aunt, my Mom, and me. Hopefully they'll remain unused for MANY years to come!!! And like the funeral home, this cemetery is a family owned & operated one, and has been since it's inception in the early 1900's.
As for funeral arrangements, our family has always been of the mind that "Ya'll can do whatever ya want for my funeral....'cause at that point in time, I'll be dead and won't give a hoot one way or t'other". And thus far, there's never been any arguing or fighting over what should or should not be done...of course most our family has always been pretty laid back and easy going!!!
My funeral is to be 'short & sweet', with a steak fry and potluck afterwards!!! (a.k.a. P-A-R-T-Y ! ! !)
Westernskies
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
- Joined
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- 3,864
Fortunately, we have a very nice family owned funeral home in town. The same family has owned and operated it for several generations...and the youngun's (now in their 20's & early 30's) are beginning to take the reins little by little, so their parents will be able to just be there to offer support and comfort for the grieving families.
Our family has been doing business with them for generations as well, and they're almost like family to us and many others in the community. They've never tried to sell us anything other than what we've wanted....you know the "for ONLY a few hundred dollars more..." routine. In fact they have suggested spending less on several occasions, because "people aren't going to be here to check out the casket like it was a new set of wheels. They'll be here to say their 'good-byes' and offer you their words of comfort, and with all of the flower arrangements, the casket won't really be noticed that much".
They really go out of their way to help in every way possible. Even so far as helping make arrangements for the luncheon after the funeral, and following up in the weeks after the funeral to see if there is anything else they can do to help the family with paperwork and such.
Back in the 1950's, my family (parents, grandparents, uncles & aunts) purchased burial plots at one of the local cemeteries...all very close together. Only three plots remain 'uninhabited'...one great-aunt, my Mom, and me. Hopefully they'll remain unused for MANY years to come!!! And like the funeral home, this cemetery is a family owned & operated one, and has been since it's inception in the early 1900's.
As for funeral arrangements, our family has always been of the mind that "Ya'll can do whatever ya want for my funeral....'cause at that point in time, I'll be dead and won't give a hoot one way or t'other". And thus far, there's never been any arguing or fighting over what should or should not be done...of course most our family has always been pretty laid back and easy going!!!
My funeral is to be 'short & sweet', with a steak fry and potluck afterwards!!! (a.k.a. P-A-R-T-Y ! ! !)
Must be nice to have such a competent. caring FH in your community. We just returned from my parents funeral in July, we hired a local funeral home in the town we grew up in to handle the arrangements; all the siblings are now living hundreds (thousands) of miles away. Many old friends from out of-town also came in for the service. The local funeral director completely screwed up the arrangements, even though everything was ordered and confirmed well in advance. There was no hole in the ground when we arrived a day early to check on arrangements. We watched them finish digging the grave a few minutes before the internment. Six weeks later, still no headstone... This funeral director is an incompetent moron.. Unfortunately, he is also the only game in town...
Goonie
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Must be nice to have such a competent. caring FH in your community....
...This funeral director is an incompetent moron.. Unfortunately, he is also the only game in town...
We are fortunate to have 3 funeral homes in town, and they are all good. It's just that the one we prefer is the best of 'em.
We used to have a 4th funeral home in town, but it was somewhere between 'so-so' and 'not so good' for it's last few years of operation. The fellow who opened it back in about the 30's, ran it for the rest of his life, up until he passed away in the late 80's or early 90's. His goofy daughter and her boyfriend took it over, and it very quickly went down hill...like a rock falling off a cliff, fast! ( I think they sniffed WAAAAY too much embalming fluid over the years!)
She lost her state license for negligence and misconduct, and they had to close the doors permanently...thankfully!!! The saddest part is that it was in a very beautiful old mansion (think southern plantation style with the big columns and a vast front yard with a fountain, etc.), but she never took care of the place after her father died, and it was finally condemned last year!
The legitimate ones will not ask for prepayment. Prearrangement is one thing, prepayment quite another.
This thread reminds me of the cartoon in What Color is Your Parachute?:
Q: "Why do you want to be a mortician?"
A: "I like to work with people."
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