The recession is taking its toll on funerals… I hadn’t thought about it too much, but when my brother passed away on Feb. 21, I found that he had opted 
for cremation instead of being buried next to his father in Albany, Oregon. From what I’m told, he walked in the door a month or so prior to his death and declared, “I’m cooked.” The family had always kept the grave in Albany open for Neil, as we’ve heard him say numerous times that he was going to be buried next to his dad, Maynard Claussen. However, that’s not what happened. At his request, he was cremated and his ashes are to be scattered in Japan – as well as the ornamental Japanese garden behind his home.
I have an idea that the expense of a funeral today may have played a part in Neil’s thinking… According to the National Funeral Directors Association, the average cost of a funeral, not counting the plot and headstone, was $7,323 in 2006.
More folks are opting for cremation today. What effect will this have on genealogy? It certainly means that there will be far less new monument research to do in the 22nd century. It also means that there will be one less semi-permanent memorial in place by which to remember the ancestors.
It’s now been confirmed that funeral home revenues have weakened as more consumers opt for cremations, cheaper caskets, shorter viewing periods and cheaper wakes. Also keep in mind that many funeral homes are prepaid for their services. That prepayment cash is usually invested. And I’m sure you know what’s happened to most of our investments of late.
Cremations went up 46 percent nationwide from 1997 to 2007 – and I’ll bet that figure is skyrocketing at the moment. Cremation represents from 24 to 35 percent of funerals currently. However, over 2/3 of funerals in Hawaii, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington now include cremation, while cremation is still under 15 percent in Alabama, Kentucky, Mississippi, and Texas. Funeral homes aren’t selling as many caskets now as in prior decades (averaging $2,250 each).
The word is out that the mortuaries are planning to raise the price of cremation – and another thing in the funeral homes’ favor is that the current U.S. death rate is 8 per 1,000 per year and it is projected to rise to 9.3 by 2020 and 10.9 by 2040. They may not be able to put on a fire sale, but the customers will keep dropping in…
For more information on the cash-strapped mortuaries, see the article by David Coffey in the April 1, 2009 edition of the Fresno Bee.
Also see:
- National Funeral Directors Association: http://www.nfda.org/
- Cremation Association of North America: http://www.cremationassociation.org/
