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Funeral arrangements often incomplete

Posted 10/13/19

Many people don’t like to think about arranging their own funeral. Others make arrangements to donate their bodies to science and therefore the survivors won’t have to pay for anything …

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Funeral arrangements often incomplete

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Many people don’t like to think about arranging their own funeral. Others make arrangements to donate their bodies to science and therefore the survivors won’t have to pay for anything when they die.

Karen Ritz, Camino del Sol Funeral Chapel and Cremation Center funeral operations director, said people in both camps are doing their family and friends a disservice. Ms. Ritz said Camino del Sol, 13728 W. Camino del Sol Blvd., is a family-run operation operating in Sun City West since 1989. Camino del Sol also administers the only cemetery in Sun City West.

Ms. Ritz said many people think the main attractions to body donation are doing something to help science and to eliminate the cost of cremation and a funeral.

“You must always have a plan B and take care of details beforehand,” she said.

The first issue that can arise is that sometimes a body donation service refuses to take a body because of its condition, depending on how long the person had been dead before calling the service and how the person died.

“Even if they take the service and provide the family with ashes later there are a lot of important details that are left undone,” Ms. Ritz said.

When someone dies a death certificate must be issued, and often multiple copies are needed, the Social Security Administration must be notified and an obituary prepared and given to newspapers for publication. These are services that funeral homes provide, according to Ms. Ritz.

Officials from Science Care Arizona, a large body donation firm operating in Arizona, states that agency files information with county health departments for a death certificate to be ordered, but it is the responsibility of the survivors to obtain copies and to notify the Social Security Administration and any other government agencies themselves.

Another problem, Ms. Ritz said, is people often don’t leave plans for a service and how to dispose of the ashes, leaving those decisions to family members who must make them during a very stressful time.

On one occasion, Ms. Ritz related, two urns with human ashes were found at the front door of the Camino del Sol offices one morning with a note saying someone had purchased a house in Sun City West and the two urns were found in a closet.

Camino del Sol administers the Garden of Eternal Memory Cemetery, 13728 W. Camino del Sol, the only cemetery in Sun City West. There are no bodies buried there as only cremains are placed in its ossuary or a columbarium.

An ossuary is an area where a person’s ashes are mingled with others in an underground area. A columbarium is a structure where ashes are stored, usually in an urn, and there is a plaque with the person’s name on the outside.

Ms. Ritz said the cemetery has an endowment which will keep it operating indefinitely.

She said all funeral homes offer pre-arrangement plans to help families after a death occurs. Generally, people pay a fee up front to cover the cost of the funeral, but also leave specific plans for the service and where burial will take place or where and how ashes will be handled.

“People often think if they just donate a body without any other plans it will save their children money,” Ms. Ritz said. “In reality, it will just cause undue stress.”

She said many people bring in other family members to sit with staff and make the arrangements well in advance.

Rosemary Abrami, Sun City West resident, is one person who had to deal with a husband’s death without any pre-need plan and now has one for herself.

“Some friends told us they had done it, and I wanted us to do it, but my husband didn’t want to,” Ms. Abrami said. “Then he became ill and died very quickly  and I was left with a lot of decisions and unknown costs at a very difficult time.”                                                                                           

Afterwards, Ms. Abrami then met with Scott Darby, Camino del Sol’s advance planning manager, to make all arrangements.

“I learned a hell of a lot when my husband died, and when I die, everything will be under control,” she said.

Ms. Abrami has appeared on television with Mr. Darby to promote funeral pre-need issues. She also has arranged with a stepson to take care of dispersing her ashes.

A new method of disposing of ashes and having a memorial is placing ashes near trees in protected forests.

One company that provides this service, Better Place Forests, is about to open a site near Flagstaff.

Rebecca Silliman, company spokeswoman for the firm, said they are providing this in mature forests where the trees will be protected.

“We provide for a service where the ashes are mingled with the dirt near the tree, and a plaque with the person’s name is placed in front of it,” Ms. Silliman said.

The firm also uses geotagging so family members can find the tree anytime in the future using global positioning system devices, such as GPS applications on phones. Ms. Silliman said maps will also be posted online.

However, like body donation firms, Better Place Forests does not provide many of the services provided by a funeral home, such as notifying government agencies and getting death certificates.

Visit caminodelosol.com, sciencecare.com and betterplaceforests.com.

Reporter Roger Ball can be contacted at rball@newszap.com or 623-876-2523.