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Taphophilia (dot) Com...
A repository of morbid curiosities:
Thanatology and Taphophile Issues, Cemetery,
Funeral Industry and Death Related News.
What's New at Arcadia
Historic Burial Grounds of the New Hampshire Seacoast By Glenn A. Knoblock
Arcadia Publishing has releases a new title in the Images of America series, the historic account of the cemeteries along the New Hampshire Seacoast. This collection is a must for anyone interested in local history, genealogy, or colonial-era art. Please visit Arcadia Publishing to purchase your copy of Historic Burial Grounds of the New Hampshire Seacoast and browse other cemetery books!
Green-Wood Cemetery By Alexandra Mosca
Arcadia Publishing announces the release of the historic account of one of New York's most famous cemeteries. Aracdia Publishing's Images of America series has an extensive catalog of many cemetery publications! Please visit Arcadia Publishing to purchase your copy of Green-Wood Cemetery.
Announcements
Quoting Death in Early Modern England: The Poetics of Epitaphs Beyond the Tomb By Scott L. Newstok
An innovative study of the Renaissance practice of making epitaphic gestures within other English genres. A poetics of quotation uncovers the ways in which writers including Shakespeare, Marlowe, Holinshed, Sidney, Jonson, Donne, and Elizabeth I have recited these texts within new contexts. Visit Palgrave Macmillan and purchase your copy today!
Living by the Dead By Ellen Ashdown with illustrations by Mary Liz Moody.
A memoir about living beside a cemetery--and about the members of my family who came to rest at Roselawn Cemetery in Tallahassee, Florida. Please visit Kitsune Books for more information.
Graveyards of Chicago: The People, History, Art, and Lore of Cook County Cemeteries By Matt Hucke And Ursula Bielski.
Discover a Chicago That Exists Just Beneath the Surface - About Six Feet Under! Take a tour of Chicago's permanent residents! Please visit the Lake Claremont Press website to purchase your copy of Graveyards of Chicago today!
Epitaphs: The Magazine for Cemetery Lovers By Cemetery Lovers
For information regarding subscriptions, single issues, submission guidelines, deadlines, classifieds or advertising for future issues, please visit The Cemetery Club.
Guardians of the Soul: Angels and Innocents, Mourners and Saints with photography by John Bower and foreword by Claude Cookman
Indiana's remarkable cemetery sculpture is now available. Please visit Studio Indiana for more information.
West Springfield Massachusetts: Stories Carved in Stone by Rusty Clark
Features information on early New England gravestone carvers with more than two hundred photos and illustrations. Please visit the Dog Pond Press website.
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Funeral homes, cemeteries squabble over prepaid services |
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Written by DeadGirl
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Sunday, 30 May 2004 |
By John Hogan
The Grand Rapids Press
As thousands of Michigan residents head to cemeteries this weekend to remember departed loved ones, they will be standing on a symbolic battleground for unlikely adversaries -- funeral home directors and cemetery owners.
At issue is millions spent on everything from caskets to cremation.
State legislators in March passed a law requiring cemeteries selling prepaid funeral goods and services to place money in escrow and offer refunds.
Funeral homes have done it for years; the change benefits consumers by forcing cemeteries to play by the same rules, said Patrick Lynch, president of the Michigan Funeral Directors Association.
"The purpose of this was to provide protection for consumers," Lynch said.
Those running cemeteries see it differently. They say the funeral home industry lobbied for change because cemeteries were cutting in on their business.
It is a rift that may widen as both sides prepare for the Jan. 1 change.
"People do not view the funeral home and the cemetery as two separate things," said Michael Carty, who manages four West Michigan cemeteries and opposed the changes. "They do not see the tension between us. And we hide that from the families."
Carty said using money from prepaid plans helps cemeteries pay the bills. If it is tied up in escrow accounts, routine cemetery maintenance may suffer, he said.
"When a consumer comes to me and I have to take 100 percent of the money and put it in a trust, and I can't use any of it until there's been a death, sometimes 20 years later, that means I can't pay expenses, such as sales tax and salaries," Carty said.
If a cemetery sells vaults, gravestones and urns, 80 percent of the retail price must be trusted. Under the old system, 130 percent of the wholesale value of those goods was put in trust.
Perhaps the most significant change is the requirement for refunds, Lynch said.
In the past, if customers who bought a headstone or a vault from the local cemetery, then moved out-of-state, were not entitled to a refund.
John Stroo, owner of Stroo Funeral Home in Caledonia, said some cemeteries have made it difficult for people who buy prepaid services to change their minds.
"People change their minds five, 10 years later, and the benefit of working through a funeral home is they get the money back," said Stroo, who was honored this month by the Michigan Funeral Directors Association for 40 years of service.
"With cemeteries, once you bought the marker, the vault, you've bought it."
Carty contends cemeteries have been willing to transfer accounts in cases where the buyer has been transferred out-of-state or retires to a different region.
"What if the cemetery in Arizona charges $7,500 for the same items that cost $5,000 in Michigan?" Stroo countered. "Who do you think is responsible for the other $2,500?"
Carty said there is more to the rift than putting money in trusts. Funeral homes do not want competition from cemeteries, he contends.
Michigan is one of four states that does not allow cemeteries to run funeral homes. If cemeteries have to play by the same trusting rules as funeral homes, why can't cemeteries offer the same services, Carty asked.
"We cannot have our own funeral home right on site; it cuts into their business," he said. "That's what they don't want. I am a consumer advocate. Competition ultimately benefits the consumer."
C.P. Miller, a member of the Michigan Cemetery Association who recently completed 12 years as its executive secretary, contends the new law is a warning shot from funeral home directors.
"The funeral directors think cemeteries are going to buy up all the funeral homes. That's not true," said Miller, manager of Elmwood Cemetery in Detroit.
"For one segment of the industry to force others to comply by their rules and regulations is not right."
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