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I. Identification Making funeral arrangements helps us to face the reality of
what has happened. The funeral, like no other event, acts as
a rite of passage that signifies the change in relationships
brought about by death. At the cemetery or crematory,
when you walk away from the grave or niche, you are physically
and psychologically leaving your old life behind
and beginning a new life. This act of separation comes at a
time when family and friends surround you with their love
and support. The support and help that you receive can
often be what gives you the strength to go on at a time when
you feel least like living.
A funeral is similar to other ceremonies in our lives. Like a graduation ceremony, a wedding, a baptism, and a bar mitzvah, a funeral is a rite of passage by which we recognize an important event that distinguishes our lives.
The funeral declares that a death has occurred. It celebrates
the life that has been lived, and offers
family and friends the opportunity to pay tribute to their loved
one.
The gathering of family and friends for a time of sharing and funeral service helps to provide emotional support so needed at this time. This will help those who grieve to face the reality of death and consequently, to take the first step toward a healthy emotional adjustment.
The funeral can and does take on many varied forms. Funerals can
last from minutes to months and
are usually influenced by the lifestyle and values of the bereaved
family and friends. ( www.Loewen.ca )
Funeral homes offer many services which include Cremation, Burial,
Transportation, Urns, Visitations, Caskets etc.
Canada and the United States are both major operators of funeral homes
in their home country and in each others, with U.S. having an industry
worth $ 25 billion. As the industry of funeral homes is worth million of
dollars the competition is fierce and any threat, to the loss of market
share is treated with contempt. Such is the case of the Loewen ( a funeral
home operator based in Canada - North America's second largest funeral
service company ) being sued for allegedly orchestrating an illegal
campaign to drive U.S. competitors out of business. Group Loewen controls,
The Loewen Group Inc. and owns or operates more than 1100 funeral homes
and more than 400 cemeteries across the United States, Canada and the United
Kingdom and are based in Vancouver, Canada. The Company employs approximately
16,000 people and derives 90 percent of its revenue from U.S. operations.and
has an estimated $ 1.1 billion sales in 1997. The case
was taken to the local U.S. courts of Mississippi for trial in 1991 and
by 1995 was judged in favor of the U.S. party and was asked to pay damages.
Death is the muse of our religions, philosophies,
political ideologies, arts and medical technologies. It sells newspapers
and insurance policies, invigorates the plots
of our television programs, and--judging from our dependency on fossil
fuels--even powers our industries.
( http://www.trinity.edu/~mkearl/death.html
)
Entrepreneurs have capitalized on this unpreventable fact of life and turned it into major businesses both in United States and Canada and United Kingdom.
*1 - To explain the difference in cultures between the West and Indian sub-continent ; death in a place like India , a land of multitude of cultures; different sects treat death in their own way and such a concept of a funeral home service, is and probably will be a non-existent phenomenon in the deeply traditional, religiously faithful land of India. There may, in future arise a need for funeral homes due to shortage of space (in the ever increasing, populated country) for burial. Every available space may have to be utilized for those alive. As of now the Hindus , the majority sect of India believe in burning the body of the dead and then floating the ashes in their holy rivers later. We may argue that the funeral home service works on the same principles / processes i.e. the burning of the body, but the only difference being the rituals differ. There maybe a possibility of such businesses entering the Indian market in the future if they are able to adapt their services accordingly to local customs.
The United States has
an area that maybe comparative to about one-half the size of Russia and
it's location ; North America, bordering both the North Atlantic
Ocean and the North Pacific Ocean, between Canada and Mexico. United
States border countries include Canada at 8,893 km. The population of U.S.
is approximately 270,311,756 (as of July 1998 est.). and the death
rate which is of importance in this case is : 8.8 deaths/1,000 population
(1998 est.).
Canada has an
area comparative to that of the U.S.only slightly larger than US and it's
location Northern North America, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean and
North Pacific Ocean, north of the conterminous US. The population
of Canada is approximately, 30,675,398 (July 1998 est.) and the death rate
which is of importance in this case is : Death rate: 7.25 deaths/1,000
population (1998 est.)
India's Population -
984,003,683 (July 1998 est.) / Death rate: 8.69 deaths/1,000 population
(1998 est.)
( Figures taken from http://www.odci.gov/cia/publications/factbook/in.html
)
The figures above of U.S. , Canada and India roughly approximates to the following number of deaths per year ;
India : approx : 8.5 million deaths per annum
U.S. : approx : 2.3 million deaths per annum
Canada : approx : 200,000 deaths per annum
Based on the figures above, and assuming many things, I can probably say that the majority of deaths in both U.S. and Canada maybe handled by funeral homes or related services and this assumption may be backed by the revenues of this industry ( around $25 billion in the U.S. alone ). In India the situation is different, where the majority of the dead may either be burnt according to the Hindu custom ( 80% of the pop. are Hindus ) or cremated / buried.
The concept of death varies from culture to culture and it differs greatly in the countries I mentioned. The idea of a funeral home is an accepted norm in the West, but not in India, where it is attached to multitude of rituals, customs. The way to go about death varies.
Today in North America 75-80% of all deaths occur in hospitals, and 80% of those are "negotiated," shortened or extended artificially. Many terminal patients are under sedation, so instead of the conscious death Hindus esteem, there is a dim and drugged insensibility at the end.
General George Patton of World War II fame, no stranger to personal reincarnational remembrances (he claimed to recall previous battlefield experiences as Napoleon), once observed, "For Hindus death is the most exalted experience of life." This idea is naturally hard for non-Hindus to grasp--all the more so for atheists facing Eternal Oblivion and those of Abrahamic faiths which define death as a punishment for man's sinful disobedience. To them, death is the ultimate sign of man's spiritual failure, a belief which arouses instincts of denial and injustice. One may feel penitent and guilty, not to mention uncertain about the destination ahead.
The Hindu's presumption of numerous births mitigates the tragedy of
death, whether the passage is his own or another's. So, Hindus call death
by lofty names--Maha Samadhi, "Great Superconscious State" and Maha Prasthana,
"Great Departure." To be near an awakened soul at the time he or she gives
up the body is considered among the most blessed of opportunities. While
ordinary people are remembered on their day of birth, Hindus honor enlightened
souls on the day of their departure,
translated in English as "liberation day."
If we view death as the opposite of life, life is good and death is
bad. But death is the opposite of birth,
not of life. Seeing life and death as collaborative parts of a greater
whole called samsara (the cosmic
evolutionary cycle of birth-death-rebirth), life is good and death
is equally good, though the Vedas are
clear that certain deaths, especially premature ones, are grievous.
Knowing that a conscious death is the ideal, the Hindu avoids excessive
drugs or mind-numbing medical measures. He cultivates detachment as death
approaches, knowing that loss is not suffered when something is given up
voluntarily, only when it is taken from us by force. He is grateful for
life, but not angry with or fearful of death. Dying is not unlike falling
asleep. We
have all experienced death many times in past lives.
Those who die suddenly, through accident or murder, have no time to
prepare. Traditionally, full death
rites are not performed after such deaths, because rebirth is expected
almost immediately. For the same
reason, rites are not accorded children who die young, before adolescence.
In India, bodies of
accidental-death victims and children are buried in a common grave
or put in a river. Since neither is
possible in Westernized countries, cremation is accepted.
Funeral and Memorial Rites: Hindus traditionally
cremate their dead, for swifter, more complete release of the soul. Burial,
which preserves the bond, is generally forbidden. Death's anniversary is
called Liberation Day. For saints, it is celebrated rather than the day
of birth. To some extent, the funeral rites serve to notify the departed
soul that he has, in fact, died. It is possible for a disoriented soul,
not understanding that he is on the other side, to linger close to the
physical plane. He can still see this material world, and even observe
his own funeral. Some of the ritual chants address the deceased, urging
him to relinquish attachments and continue the journey. The rites are also
for the living, allowing the family to say a respectable and dignified
"farewell," to express grief, loss and the mosaic of emotions they naturally
encounter. The deepest significance of the funeral rites lies in their
yoking the inner and outer worlds, Bhuloka and Devaloka, and their recognition
that a family consists not just of its living generations, but its ancestors
as well. Often a group of souls will sequentially incarnate into the same
extended family, so that, for example, a grandson may be the returned soul
of the father. In this way collective karma and dharma are worked through.
Those in the inner worlds help relatives living in the outer world. When
their turn comes in the outer world, they strive to attain spiritual progress
that is only possible in physical incarnation. Ceremonial uniting of the
deceased with his forefathers and yearly honoring of ancestors keep open
the inner communication which makes the family prosperous and preserves
its longevity.
Rites of Transition
Hindu death rituals in all traditions follow a fairly uniform pattern
drawn from the Vedas, with variations
according to sect, region, caste and family tradition. Most rites are
fulfilled by the family, all of whom
participate, including the children, who need not be shielded from
the death. Certain rites are traditionally
performed by a priest but may also be performed by the family if no
priest is available. Here is a simple
outline of rites that can be performed by Hindus in any locality. Variations
are noted and suggestions
made for Hindus in Western countries.
1. As Death Approaches
Traditionally, a Hindu dies at home. Nowadays the dying are increasingly
kept in hospitals, even when
recovery is clearly not possible. Knowing the merits of dying at home
among loved ones, Hindus bring the
ill home. When death is imminent, kindred are notified. The person
is placed in his room or in the
entryway of the house, with the head facing east. A lamp is lit near
his head and he is urged to
concentrate on his mantra. Kindred keep vigil until the great departure,
singing hymns, praying and
reading scripture. If he cannot come home, this happens at the hospital,
regardless of institutional
objections.
2. The Moment of Death
If the dying person is unconscious at departure, a family member chants
the mantra softly in the right ear.
If none is known, "Aum Namo Narayana" or "Aum Nama Sivaya" is intoned.
(This is also done for
sudden-death victims, such as on a battlefield or in a car accident.)
Holy ash or sandal paste is applied to
the forehead, Vedic verses are chanted, and a few drops of milk, Ganga
or other holy water are trickled
into the mouth. After death, the body is laid in the home's entryway,
with the head facing south, on a cot
or the ground--reflecting a return to the lap of Mother Earth. The
lamp is kept lit near the head and
incense burned. A cloth is tied under the chin and over the top of
the head. The thumbs are tied together,
as are the big toes. In a hospital, the family has the death certificate
signed immediately and transports the
body home. Under no circumstances should the body be embalmed or organs
removed for use by others.
Religious pictures are turned to the wall, and in some traditions mirrors
are covered. Relatives are
beckoned to bid farewell and sing sacred songs at the side of the body.
3. The Homa Fire Ritual
If available, a special funeral priest is called. In a shelter built
by the family, a fire ritual (homa) is
performed to bless nine brass kumbhas (water pots) and one clay pot.
Lacking the shelter, an appropriate
fire is made in the home. The "chief mourner" leads the rites. He is
the eldest son in the case of the
father's death and the youngest son in the case of the mother's. In
some traditions, the eldest son serves
for both, or the wife, son-in-law or nearest male relative.
4. Preparing the Body
The chief mourner now performs arati, passing an oil lamp over the
remains, then offering flowers. The
male (or female, depending on the gender of the deceased) relatives
carry the body to the back porch,
remove the clothes and drape it with a white cloth. (If there is no
porch, the body can be sponge bathed
and prepared where it is.) Each applies sesame oil to the head, and
the body is bathed with water from the
nine kumbhas, dressed, placed in a coffin (or on a palanquin) and carried
to the homa shelter. The young
children, holding small lighted sticks, encircle the body, singing
hymns. The women then walk around the
body and offer puffed rice into the mouth to nourish the deceased for
the journey ahead. A widow will
place her tali (wedding pendant) around her husband's neck, signifying
her enduring tie to him. The coffin
is then closed. If unable to bring the body home, the family arranges
to clean and dress it at the mortuary
rather than leave these duties to strangers. The ritual homa fire can
be made at home or kindled at the
crematorium.
5. Cremation
Only men go to the cremation site, led by the chief mourner. Two pots
are carried: the clay kumbha and
another containing burning embers from the homa. The body is carried
three times counterclockwise
around the pyre, then placed upon it. All circumambulating, and some
arati, in the rites is
counterclockwise. If a coffin is used, the cover is now removed. The
men offer puffed rice as the women
did earlier, cover the body with wood and offer incense and ghee. With
the clay pot on his left shoulder,
the chief mourner circles the pyre while holding a fire brand behind
his back. At each turn around the
pyre, a relative knocks a hole in the pot with a knife, letting water
out, signifying life's leaving its vessel.
At the end of three turns, the chief mourner drops the pot. Then, without
turning to face the body, he
lights the pyre and leaves the cremation grounds. The others follow.
At a gas-fueled crematorium, sacred
wood and ghee are placed inside the coffin with the body. Where permitted,
the body is carried around
the chamber, and a small fire is lit in the coffin before it is consigned
to the flames. The cremation switch
then is engaged by the chief mourner.
6. Return Home; Ritual Impurity
Returning home, all bathe and share in cleaning the house. A lamp and
water pot are set where the body
lay in state. The water is changed daily, and pictures remain turned
to the wall. The shrine room is closed,
with white cloth draping all icons. During these days of ritual impurity,
family and close relatives do not
visit others' homes, though neighbors and relatives bring daily meals
to relieve the burdens during
mourning. Neither do they attend festivals and temples, visit swamis,
nor take part in marriage
arrangements. Some observe this period up to one year. For the death
of friends, teachers or students,
observances are optional. While mourning is never suppressed or denied,
scriptures admonish against
excessive lamentation and encourage joyous release. The departed soul
is acutely conscious of emotional
forces directed at him. Prolonged grieving can hold him in earthly
consciousness, inhibiting full transition
to the heaven worlds. In Hindu Bali, it is shameful to cry for the
dead.
7. Bone-Gathering Ceremony
About 12 hours after cremation, family men return to collect the remains.
Water is sprinkled on the ash;
the remains are collected on a large tray. At crematoriums the family
can arrange to personally gather the
remains: ashes and small pieces of white bone called "flowers." In
crematoriums these are ground to dust,
and arrangements must be made to preserve them. Ashes are carried or
sent to India for deposition in the
Ganges or placed them in an auspicious river or the ocean, along with
garlands and flowers.
8. First Memorial
On the 3rd, 5th, 7th or 9th day, relatives gather for a meal of the
deceased's favorite foods. A portion is
offered before his photo and later ceremonially left at an abandoned
place, along with some lit camphor.
Customs for this period are varied. Some offer pinda (rice balls) daily
for nine days. Others combine all
these offerings with the following sapindikarana rituals for a few
days or one day of ceremonies.
9. 31st-Day Memorial
On the 31st day, a memorial service is held. In some traditions it
is a repetition of the funeral rites. At
home, all thoroughly clean the house. A priest purifies the home, and
performs the sapindikarana, making
one large pinda (representing the deceased) and three small, representing
the father, grandfather and
greatgrandfather. The large ball is cut in three pieces and joined
with the small pindas to ritually unite the
soul with the ancestors in the next world. The pindas are fed to the
crows, to a cow or thrown in a river
for the fish. Some perform this rite on the 11th day after cremation.
Others perform it twice: on the 31st
day or (11th, 15th, etc.) and after one year. Once the first sapindikarana
is completed, the ritual impurity
ends. Monthly repetition is also common for one year.
10. One-Year Memorial
At the yearly anniversary of the death (according to the moon calendar),
a priest conducts the shraddha
rites in the home, offering pinda to the ancestors. This ceremony is
done yearly as long as the sons of the
deceased are alive (or for a specified period). It is now common in
India to observe shraddha for
ancestors just prior to the yearly Navaratri festival. This time is
also appropriate for cases where the day
of death is unknown.
Hindu funeral rites can be simple or exceedingly complex. These ten
steps, devotedly completed
according to the customs, means, and ability of the family, will properly
conclude one earthly sojourn of
any Hindu soul.
http://www.HinduismToday.kauai.hi.us/ashram/
Having shown the very varied
view of death and the way of treating the dead by another culture, let's
talk about funeral homes, the way it is increasingly done in the West ;
Examples of funeral home operators both in U.S. and Canada.
Houston-based SCI, is the world's largest
funeral-home operator
Loewen Group Inc. of Burnaby, British Columbia,
Canada. - North America's second-largest funeral-service company
Funeral-home giant Service Corp. International
Stewart Enterprises Inc. of Metaire, La
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At an average cost of close to $5,000, a funeral may be one of the largest expenditures many of us will ever have. ( Click for approx. details of various costs ) (3) After examining the figure above it is quite clear that funeral homes are big and possibly profitable businesses both in the U.S. and Canada. Problems start to arise when businesses expand and grow to levels that disturb local dealers and initially the case maybe dealt by local courts but taken up later by international courts, if necessary as it is in this case.
A Canadian funeral conglomerate was fined $150 million for gross business misconduct in Mississippi. In 1995 Jeremiah O' Keefe a funeral home owner in Biloxi, Missi., sued Loewen for having breached an agreement to purchase several of O'Keefe's funeral homes. He accused Loewen of making an under the table agreement with another firm to renege on the deal. The suit also alleged that Loewen was trying to setup a monopoly, said Mike Allred, attorney for O'Keefe. Found guilty by the jury, for fraudulent practices, Loewen group was asked to pay O'Keefe $160 million, which was raised to $500 million later only to be settled at $150 million.
Loewen Group retaliated by filing a complaint with
the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes, a unit
of the World Bank. The Loewen Group became the first corporation to invoke
the Nafta investor state clause against the U.S. government in an attempt
to recover damages suffered as a result of a Mississippi court ruling.
It filed the first Chapter 11 complaint in the United States, seeking $
725 million in damages. " Chapter 11 of NAFTA provides the foreign investors
who believe that they have been discriminated against or that their assets
have been unfairly "expropriated" can demand compensation from the country
where they are doing business" (4).
Loewen alleges that it's investor rights were violated beacuse the
Mississippi courts subjected its officials to "invidious discrimination
beacuse they were Canadians."
Loewen claims that the U.S. government is liable because it is required to "ensure that state governments comply with NAFTA ". If Loewen wins, damages will come from U.S. taxpayers, not the plaintiffs in the Mississippi lawsuit.
This lawsuit has, some fear, paved the way for more companies to follow in Loewen's path and use this NAFTA provision for theit own causes such as, in that both Canadian and Mexican companies may sue the U.S. government for setbacks in their business dealings.
" Free-trade initiatives of the 1990s, such as NAFTA and the World Trade Organization, are coming under attack for handing foreign interests the legal firepower to undercut public policy on economic, health, safety and other issues."
" A NAFTA provision, which was little discussed in the 1993 debate on the agreement, allows a corporation to sue one of the three NAFTA governments for cash damages to compensate for a government's failure to deliver to private investors all of the benefits promised to foreign investors under the trade accord.
The Loewen lawsuit, which was outlined in the company's
quarterly financial statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission,
alleges that the company was subjected to discrimination, expropriation,
all in violation of NAFTA." (5)
The NAFTA part of it may be seen in these statements by
Lori Wallach ,
Director, Public Citizen's Global Trade Watch
Nov. 24, 1998
NAFTA "Investor-to-State" Provision Creates Giant Loophole for
Companies to Evade Justice
Five year ago, a broad range of critics in the U.S.,
Mexico and Canada tried to warn that adoption of the North American
Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) would cause diverse
damage to the standards of living, food safety and environment in
North America. We argued that NAFTA was not so much
about trade as about creating powerful new rights for
corporations and investors at the expense of the
public interest and democratic governance.
Today, we unveil NAFTA's fifth birthday bombshell,
an example of NAFTA damage that goes well beyond the harshest
predictions of NAFTA's critics. The food safety
dangers, job losses, and environmental crime we predicted all sadly came
true. Now, we have an outrageous example of NAFTA's
direct attack on democracy with potential implications that are
boundlessly alarming.
Loewen, a Canadian funeral conglomerate owning over
100 U.S. funeral homes and numerous cemeteries has made the
first use in history of NAFTA provisions that allow
a corporation to directly sue a NAFTA government for cash damages
to compensate for a government's failure to deliver
to a private investor all of the new benefits for foreign investors that
NAFTA established.
This case is not before any U.S. court, but will
be heard by a NAFTA tribunal without any of the due process, conflict of
interest or openness guarantees of the U.S. system.
Indeed, notice of this case was filed 90 days ago with the U.S.
government, but it was only revealed because the
plaintiff mentioned it in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing.
Briefs on the case, its hearings, any rulings and
even its potential settlement will occur in total secrecy.
None of the issues involved in this case are remotely
related to international trade. None of the issue relate to laws that
discriminate against foreign companies or "protectionist"
barriers to business.
Rather, Loewen's claim is that the very operation
of the civil justice system in the state courts of Mississippi infringes
on
new rights foreign investors were granted under
NAFTA. Specifically, Loewen lost a jury trial in Mississippi over its
conduct towards a local family business. Prior to
the case going to trial, Loewen had rejected a $3 million settlement offer
from the O'Keefe family which operated several funeral
homes in Biloxi. The jury, as we will hear today from its foreman,
was outraged by Loewen's conduct and rewarded $100
million in damages. Oddly, Loewen then asked for jury
consideration of punitive damages and was hit with
$400 million in further liability. Loewen decided to appeal. In
Mississippi, as in many other U.S. states, a surety
bond is required at appeal to avoid defendants from declaring
bankruptcy or otherwise moving assets to become
judgement proof. Loewen went to the Mississippi Supreme Court
arguing that the surety bond requirement was unfair
and lost. Loewen ultimately accepted a second settlement offer at
$100 million. Loewen's practices in other states
have resulted in large court settlements and mandatory divestiture of some
funeral homes.
End of case? No. Thanks to NAFTA, Loewen has a new
tool to demand a massive tax payer-funded reimbursement for
the punishment a U.S. jury meted out for its bad
behavior. Loewen claims that the very operation of the Mississippi
Supreme Court, a Mississippi trial judge and Mississippi
lawyers are "tantamount to" an "indirect expropriation" of
Loewen's assets. This claim uses a broad NAFTA provision
(Sec. 1110,) that grants compensation for "regulatory" taking
-- that is government action falling short of seizure
of property but that might affect an investment's value or profitability.
Now, all of this might simply sound like a trade
lawyer getting overly creative with NAFTA. Except, this very NAFTA
provision has already resulted in a successful challenge
of a health safeguard in Canada. In August, Canada revoked its
ban on MMT, a gasoline additive banned by many countries
and U.S. states after MMT's producer, the U.S. Ethyl
Corporation, sued Canada for $250 million in lost
expected future profits. Canada ultimately agreed to pay $14 million in
profits lost to date and sign an apology declaring
MMT safe for Ethyl's use in advertising. Another corporate suit using this
NAFTA provisions has been taken by the U.S. Metalclad
Corporation demanding compensation from Mexico because
land zoning rules halted plans for a toxic waste
plant on an ecologically sensitive site.
It is hard to imagine that the narrow margin of U.S.
Congress people who passed NAFTA in 1993 would have done so
had they understood the powers it conferred upon
investors and how these powers would be used by corporations to
attack basic public interest laws, evade the very
U.S. system of justice and tear down the everyday workings of the courts
in an American state.
If Loewen is successful in winning its case or compelling
the government to settle – as in the Ethyl case – American
taxpayers will have to shell out millions in compensation.
And the case would set a chilling precedent that could embolden
every corporate criminal seeking to evade justice.
Perversely, these same provisions are at the core of the Clinton
Administration's attempt - even in the absence of
negotiating authority -- to expand NAFTA to the entire western
hemisphere – as the Free Trade Area of the Americas
(FTAA) agreement – and to the whole world – as the Multilateral
Agreement on Investment (MAI). The Loewen case provides
the latest example of why the U.S. should repeal NAFTA,
not inflict it on other countries.
USCANADA: US-Canada Softwood Lumber Dispute
WALLEYE:
US-Canada Tour Fishing Dispute
SALMON
ONTARIO
BODY
- HUMAN PARTS TRADE
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II. Legal
Clusters III. Geographic
Clustersb. Geographic Site: Northern North America
c. Geographic Impact: U.S. and Canada
IV. Trade
Clustersb. Indirectly Related to Product: No
c. Not Related to Product : NO
d. Related to Process: YES Culture
The Loewen Group and approximately 870 of its U.S. subsidiaries filed
their Chapter 11 cases in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court
for the District of Delaware in Wilmington.
The courts have been somewhat more active. In 1995, independent funeral-home
owner Jeremiah O'Keefe sued Loewen for engaging in predatory trade practices.
He accepted a $175 million settlement after a rural Mississippi jury awarded
$500 million, having heard testimony by former Loewen employees confirming
that they were ordered by the company to sharply raise prices at newly
acquired homes or face dismissal. The settlement left Loewen open to a
hostile takeover bid by SCI, but the company survived and the following
year acquired $1 billion worth of new homes.
( www.usnews.com/issue/980323/23deat
).
A general price list of a Funeral home may look like this ;
General Price List
(these prices are effective as of April 1, 1998 and are subject to change without notice)
The goods and services shown below
are those we can provide to our
customers. You may choose only
the items you desire. However, any funeral
arrangements you select will include
a charge for our basic overhead. If legal or
other requirements mean you must
buy any items you did not specifically ask for,
we will explain the reason in
writing on the statement we provide describing the
funeral goods and services you
selected.
This price list is offered to comply
with Federal Trade Commision's Trade
Regulation Rule; Funeral Industry
Practices 16 CFR Part 453. Our fees are
established in consultation with
a professional accounting firm, exclusively serving
funeral homes.
Services of Funeral Director and Staff............................................................$1,355.00
Includes: Twenty-four hour accessibilty;
general and administrative expenses;
arrangements conference; planning,
supervising, and coordinating service details
with those involved in the funeral
service; securing, preparing, and filing necessary
permits, certificates, authorizations,
and consents; clerical and record keeping.
This fee for our basice services
and overhead will be added to the total cost of
the funeral arrangements you selected.
This fee is already included in our charges
for direct cremations, immediate
burials, and forwarding or receiving remains.
Embalming...........................................................................................................$460.00
Except in certain special cases,
embalming is not required by law. Embalming
may be neccessary, however, if
you select certain funeral arrangements, such as a
funeral with viewing. If you do
not want embalming, you usually have the right to
choose an arrangement that does
not require you to pay for it, such as a direct
cremation or immediate burial.
Other preparation of the body ............................................................................$125.00
Use of Facilities and Staff for:
Viewing (one Day) .................................................................................................$375.00
Additional day of Visitation.....................................................................................$250.00
Funeral Ceremony (Funeral Home, Church or other location) .................................$410.00
Graveside Service (Equipment and Staff)................................................................$340.00
Memorial Service ..................................................................................................$300.00
Automotive Equipment:(Additional $1.50 per mile outside 30 mile
service area)
Transfer of remains to funeral home ........................................................................$150.00
Funeral Coach (Hearse).........................................................................................$180.00
Utility Vehicle ........................................................................................................$140.00
Additional Automotive Equipment and Services:
Cremation Process ................................................................................................$250.00
Medical Examiner Fee .............................................................................................$10.00
Limousine - 6 passanger ........................................................................................$150.00
Merchandise:
Caskets ................................................................................................$10,000
- $895.00
(A Complete price list will be provided at the funeral home)
Outer Burial Containers .........................................................................$12,500
- $675.00
(A complete price list will be provided at the funeral home)
Air Tray for Casket ...............................................................................................$120.00
Alternative Container .............................................................................................$100.00
Other Services:
Forewarding of Remains to another Funeral Home:.........................................$957.20
This charge includes: transfer
of remains, neccessary services of Funeral Director
and Staff, embalming, transportation
to the airport, and air tray (excludes shipping
charges).
Receiving Remains from another Funeral Home:..........................................$1,395.00
This charge includes: transportation
from the airport(Excludes shipping charges),
necessary services of Funeral
Director and Staff, and local transportation to final
place of burial.
Direct Cremation:................................................................................................$990.00
Our charges for a direct cremation
(without ceremony) includes: transfer of
remains, necessary services of
Funeral Director and Staff; body preparation.
If you want to arrange a direct
cremation, you can use an alternative container.
Alternative containers encase
the body and can be made of materials like
fiberboard or composition materials
( with or without outside covering). The
containers we provide are cardboard.
A. Direct cremation with any casket selected from our funeral
home(service only) ...$990.00
Range of direct cremations with a casket from our selection
room ...$10,990.00 - $1,940.00
B. Direct cremation with a container provided by purchaser ....................................$990.00
C. Direct cremation with an alternative container ..................................................$1,090.00
Immediate Burials:..............................................................................................$875.00
Our charge for an immediate burial
includes: transfer of remains, necessary
services of Funeral Director and
Staff, body preparation other than embalming,
local transportation to cemetery,
and graveside service only - No formal viewing
or visitation.
A. Immediate Burial with any casket selected from our funeral
home (service only) ..$875.00
Range of immediate burials with a casket from our Selection
Room
......................................................................................................$10,875.00
- $1,770.00
B. Immediate Burial with a container provided by the purchaser
..............................$875.00
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Source : McAlister Funeral Home
V. Environment
Clusters"The pious Hindu approaches death as a meditation and a spiritual discipline.
The body's impending
demise compels him to practice detachment, which is difficult to achieve
amid life's tumult. Lord Yama's
nearness compels new urgency to strive. No longer can he put it off.
No more excuses. No more
distractions. Death's knock at the door reminds him of what is transient
and what is eternal, and he knows
instinctively which to embrace." http://www.HinduismToday.kauai.hi.us/ashram/
Type: Homo Sapiens
VI. Other
Factors
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