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Show The Business of Death: What is Really Involved? By Loren n. Webb Associate Editor "Like every member of the human race, you were born and you must die. Your birth Is a matter of record . . . you take It for granted. But death, that uncertain door that leads ahead, has been for man an awesome mystery. "Life's greatest test comes with the death of a loved one, and without faith In the Immortality of the soul, the separation of death looms forever comfortless " Extract from man's Search For Happiness Deatn. Mo one can escape it (at least not in this life). Since everyone is affected sooner or later, death is also a business. Although handling and disposing of bodies is done differently than in years past, the purpose is the same. In Richfield, two mortuaries serve the public. Neal Magleby and Sons and Springer Mortuary. Peterson Mortuary, owned by Springer is in Salina. In addition, Warren R. Jensen Mortuary operates in Salina and Gunnison. When Home and Miller opened their Richfield mortuary in 1894, (later acquired by Maglebys) funeral services were somewhat unusual. Neal Magleby remembers embalming fluid came in 50 gallon barrels and people were embalmed, dressed and casketed at home and then buried. Prior to embalming, family members would pack the body with ice. This was referred to as "staying up with the body." LDS funerals were always on Sundays and lasted two hours. After the funeral, a horse-drawn hearse would take the body to the cemetery plot located at that time, behind the present Richfield High School. Others found their way to private family plots. Jean Jensen, wife of Warren Jensen, says when John Peterson began his business in Salina, he built mummy type caskets for his clients. As motorized hearses came into use, bodies were embalmed, dressed and casketed at the mortuary, then taken home to await the funeral. Graves were dug by shovel then and the casket laid down through use of lines from horse harnesses. Magleby says graves were dug by hand until five years ago. Some are still dug wifh shovels instead of backhoes. Other changes occurred. LDS authorities finding funerals were taking too much time on Sundays, shortened services to one hour and made services optional any day of the week. Sundays are now discouraged. While some people associate funeral directors with turn of the century undertakers, waiting for their next prey and saying "I'll get right to it," today's morticians are civic and church-minded. Magleby and Springer mortuaries owners say the most important thing they offer is service to the public. It's the "satisfaction of doing good," says Neal. "It's good will and good service." Magleby says many times in Wayne and Garfield counties, he'd stay overnight, embalm the body at home, and stay for the funeral which might be the following Sunday. Although times have changed, the need for help when death occurs, is always needed, says Joe H. Springer, son of Joe D. Springer. People need help getting arrangements straightened out and it takes time to help fill that void through counseling. Family members need legal papers such as death certificates signed and the time and place of funeral arranged as well. "There is nothing that says a body has to be embalmed, but there is a disposal time limit, whether cremation or interment," says Springer. More cremations are found in metropolitan areas, says Bruce Turner, who manages Springer Mortuary in Richfield. Magleby and Springer agree about 5 to 6 cremations are done a year in this area. For people wanting cremation, both mortuaries have cremation caskets. .A fiber board container or urn containing the ashes costs $100. Since Salt Lake City has the closest retort, cremations are done there. Alma Magleby, son of Neal, and a partner with his father, says there are times when no funeral is given when a body is cremated, due to family discretion. The cost is usually between $250-$395, since no embalming is done. Urns of loved ones can then be kept in the home or at a mausoleum. If a body is found in the hills, it's taken to a medical examiner, then if the family lived in the area, the funeral lmi, .mtPTBKKB 'IbmbbhbbbbbbH rp"offqLjj witKKilSBKHBKniBnKSKrTf Tjbbbbbbbbbbbbbh Sbbbm ""u""ns HHftVPBJBBHBnBBBHB8BBH LfBBvBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBH ibbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbh $sBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBiii7 fHKm!BS!M3 Casket Variety Bruce Turner and Joe II. Springer of Springer and Peterson .Mortuary in Richfield look at a casket in their casket showroom. The showroom contains a variety of bronze, wood, and copper caskets to suit individual needs. home would be involved, says Springer. Once the death certificate is signed by a licensed mortician and medical doctor, a viewing service is given the following day, then ground internment. The process usually takes three days. Springer and Turner agree the mortician business is challenging since they are both funeral directors and embalmers. "Properly preparing the remains so they look presentable is a challenge." The profit comes through the sale of a casket, the service, facilities and equipment. Just how much does a funeral cost? In Las Vegas, where Turner worked before coming to Richfield, a complete service including casket could cost $5,000. However, $1200 to $1500 is average, but it depends what the family wants. Alma Magleby says flowers, cemetery property, providing obituary information to newspapers and radio .stations and providing clothing are extra and can amount up to $1,000 in addition to the casket-funeral service. Other costs include items as cemetery transportation, cemetery vaults and certified certificates. Magleby and Springer have casket showrooms displaying wood, copper, bronze and fiberglass caskets. Casket interiors can differ from crepes to satins. Caskets cost from $350 to $1300, with a $3,000 to $4,000 casket being the exception, says Springer. Softwood caskets are the cheapest, costing $750 to $1,000 including the service, says Alma. Springer says if their account is settled in 30 days, discounts are given. Notwithstanding the costs, Turner says what he likes is when the family comes back after the service to thank them. "It is satisfying for us to help them." It gives the family a sense of peace. It makes the experience a little more tolerable." "The funeral itself is not for the dead, it's for the living," says Turner. "It's like cutting the hand off, it heals and you miss it, but life is bearable and can continue." Turner says the funeral service is a process of putting life back together. If services are wanted in the mortuary, both Richfield mortuaries are equipped to do that. Magleby chapel holds from 100 to 150 people while Springer's can hold 70. Funeral services are done at the request of the family and conducted in the religious mode of the deceased member and the area he or she comes from. Turner says LDS funerals get quite personal, where Catholics usually read from a book, but it still depends, since both mortuaries say other religious services are just as personal. While the body is in the embalming room, it is washed and embalmed with several ingredients including alcohol, formaldehyde and panahyde. Immediate family members can be present there as well as state inspectors and doctors. Both Alma Magleby and Joe II. (Continued on Page 8) Why Get Into The Business of Death? (Continued from Page 1) Springer were raised in mortuaries. Today, Joe, his children and family live in an apartment next to the mortuary in Salina while Neal lives in the mortuary. Springer believes kids raised there ' have more respect towards death. But why did Joe D. Springer get into the business? Springer doesn't know except he saw the service his father rendered and decided it was important. Neal says he asked himself that question for 40 years. "I still don't know." then he added, it's the satisfaction of serving the public. Turner got in the business because of Joe D. Springer. He said people had respect for the funeral director and "I thought that was what I wanted to do." His wife Trish has always wanted to be in the business as well. Turner worked for Spilsbury and Graff Mortuary in St. George, then went to California where he served his apprenticeship. He then moved to Las Vegas in 1977 and has been in Richfield since September 1981. Most people these mortuaries handle, they know. Springer says it isn't something like an animal carcass." I experience strong feelings. I believe the body is a tabernacle of God and should be treated with respect." He says they try to do the best they can in all aspects. But he also acknowledges (he work Maglebys do. What demands does a mortuary place on funeral directors and em-balmers? Springer admits "its very demanding on your time. You have to put the mortuary first and the family has to come second. When they (people) call us, we leave immediately." Turner adds, "It is a 36 hour a day job eight days a week." Both funeral homes for many years were the only ones to provide ambulance service and did it from 1940 to 1972. Sometimes their schedule is hectic and sometimes it isn't, but somebody has to be on hand at all times. Deaths occur sporadically. Springer says they have six to seven a month. Magleby has an average of two a week including Garfield, Piute and Sevier counties. Turner says their mortuary in Richfield and Salina does about 70 to 80 funerals a year. "Last year we were low, but our average has been 70." "Magleby and Jensen are related to most of the people and we are not, so we have to go out and get more civicly involved. Blood is thicker than water," he added. Remembering Through Monuments The Moroni Jensen monument is typical of the craftsmanship done by Richfield Monument Company owned by Dan Henrle. Monuments are used to commemorate a loved one. On days they aren't busy, they do church and civic work or bookwork. Springer in Salina is an EMT, works on the ambulance and is an EMT instructor, a member of the Lion's Club in Salina and past president of the Jaycees. Magleby and Springer belong to the Utah Funeral Director's Association, which makes them members of the National Funeral Directors' Association. Neal Magleby has served as mayor of Richfield; president of Richfield Rotary Club and president, Utah Funeral Directors' Association. He has also served as district governor for the national association. Alma has been president of Jaycees and Lion's Club, president-elect of the state funeral directors' association and is serving as senior seventy's president in the Richfield LDS East Stake. He is also past vice-president of Utah Jaycees and is Richfield Fire Department treasurer. "Serving and helping the community is part of the things we do to promote the area. It is part of our rent for being here on the earth," he says. Both subscribe to such magazines as "The Director," "Casket and Sun-nyside," "Mortuary Management," "The Dodge Management." Some also receive monthly newsletters from the funeral directors'' association and from Champion Fluid Company. There are even directories and encyclopedias for morticians such as "Champion Expanding Encyclopedia of Mortuary Practice" and the National Directory of morticians which includes such names as Jolly Mortuary and Goodbody Mortuary. But what's the future of items such as drive-in funerals? Turner says its doubtful those types of services will ever catch on with people in Utah because of their religion. It reminds him of driving up to a banking window. "In this area, there is still respect for the dead." But inflation has hurt mortuaries to srnne extent. When hearses cost $33,000 each, many mortuaries are cutting corners and settling for vans which cost . $14,000. However, to offset inflation, Springer and Magleby have the Sentinel Plan designed for paying funeral and burial costs. Known as 20 pay life, after 20 years, costs for the funeral would be paid up and begin gaining interest. At death, after the costs are paid, remaining interest could go to the heirs. When Bruce dies, he said, "I would like to have a nice service; not the most expensive service. I would like a copper or bronze casket. I think people should nave a respectable service with respectable merchandise." Another aspect to death, involves that of markers or monuments bought for the lost loved one. This Is where companies such as Richfield Monument Company (the oldest family owned business In the county) come into the picture. Dan Henrie, a third generation owner of the company, says monuments are "an attempt at Immortality." A motto In his office states the way he feels, "A memorial was purchased because someone lived ... not because someone died." Henrie says monuments are to commemorate a person, and although he says epitaphs are rare today, when they are used, they are very personal. As an example, Norm Fuellenbach, late publisher of The Richfield Reaper, had inscribed on his monument, "There are so many joys to hold and behold In this wonderful rotten world." Just what kind of markers are available and what are the costs associated with them? Henrie says marble was prevalent In earlier days, but because it wears due to weather, granite is the most popular today. The stones are usually upright or flat and usually three to four feet wide for a double marker. But Henrie has seen markers as high as 16 feet and 10 feet long. . Uprights are usually eight inches thick, while flats are six inches. thick. Henrie says Mormon monuments are conservative in price and taste compared to Catholic ones. Costs on flat monuments usually run one half the amount of uprights. A $6,000 monument is the most expensive Henrie knows of In Sevier County. Darker colored granites are more expensive, while the cheapest monument can be as little as $85 for a flat 14 inch long, six inch wide granite piece. Average price tor gramie monuments run $300 to $900. There are many variables as with funeral services. Henrie says most persons choose, upright monuments. He says the greatest contribution he can give at a time of death, is to transfer an idea or an identity onto a permanent tablet for permanent remembrance. The funeral service does the same thing in a different way, "but people need to be remembered whether they ever get a monument or not." |