Show v U ndertaker m S e of n e- - id y HARTFORD Conn (UPI) — Gennaro J Capobianco president of the Greater HartFuneral Services Chapels Ltd it’ time for plain ford and ay talk in his business latent m The is phemism in a manner of speaking laid eu- him low but ‘Grief I’m Therapist?' “Granted taker can people He minister a an underbe many can be a lawyer a 1981 The Herald Journal — 31 would curb high cost of funerals the way I see 'em" he said He sees cremation social worker Many things in one But just how far are you going to take the public? “I know what I am and I'm proud of it “I know the word ‘mortician has lost its glow and the term ‘funeral director' is a bit dated Logan Utah Sunday May Ji Jerry and inexpensive funerals as the practical way to go for many people If he has his way television viewers may see him in commercials saying "Is inflation kill the Undertaker I have a job to do I'm a dedicated person I'm sincere And I call 'em ing you? Don't let the high cost of dying get you down Cremation the simple and dignified choice" He may be winning friends and influencing people but most are not in the funeral line "I have visited more than 30 countries in the past 10 years — visited undertakers — call them what you will and I said ‘My God America is making a circus out of funerals' To me the American way of death is a joke Outside of the oil companies it's the big American ripoff “Most undertakers a have full-servi- funeral home I have caskets that are costly will not agree only because people demand them" Capobianco is 32 They’re going to rationalize And it's not for me to say what a and customarily family wants or wears a collar a monogram peeping of his breast pocket completes the worsted out cutaway of his own design with a velvet doesn't want I will continue to promote cremation though I stickpin in his cravat a gold chain anchoring an antique pocket and striped watch trousers A white handkerchief with a diamond ensemble He sometimes uses his 1980 Ford station wagon in funeral processions because it’s cheaper for the bereaved “You don't need a limousine when you die" Jerry the undertaker says Seventy-fiv- e percent of his business is cremation His living and business quarters are housed in a 23-roo- m white-column- ed Georgian mansion He keeps a brass urn for his own ashes FRUIT CERTO or “cremains" next to his desk an oak table with two baroque brass candlesticks He says he had a dream to become a funeral director at 12 and God helped him So did a banker A simple cremation PAROWAX FRESH 15oz 5oz costs $500 A crema- tion including a memorial service might coat about RED LABEL PACIFIC FRIEND GRANULATED KARO SYRUP CRUSHED PINEAPPLE tjOna gallon $1200 while burials usually begin at $2500 to $3500 and can go much higher Reg Pints SUGAR $089 cose of 12 £m 25 lbs quart Regular Quarts Wide Mouth Pints $079 q sanctions againat case of 12 Wide Mouth Quarts 15 case of 12 BANQUET FROZEN JOHNSTON ICRAIMM CRACKER KORENTE FREEZER PIE CRUST 2--9 case of 12 $029 BAGS SHELLS ::6oz Jelly Jars SUNKlST Quart or Pint Inch 7 40 bags FROZEN ORANGE JUICE 4 ox 269 FOR DOLLY MADISON DESSERT ANGEL FOOD CUPS CAKE SQUARES i t WESTERN CRYSTAL WHITE DOLLY MADISON FAMILY LIQUID POPCORN DISH SOAP 48 ox j $125 I 4b HIRSHET NABISCO CANDY WHEAT THINS OR TRtSCUITS BARS GIANT SIZE 25 Reg 61“ ORLEANS TINT RED RIPE COCKTAIL SHRIMP TOMATOES Shrimp FRESH Sf "U8HMANS BLUEBERRIES 15 ci leg $115 2V4oz ARTICHOKES MARUCHAN TREE TOP FROZEN SNOW WHITE CAULIFLOWER 3 a 1 ORIENTAL 00 PUR-GRAP- E JUICE NOODLES 7!00 FRESH ZUCCHINI SQUASH IT FRESH GREEN KRAFT CARMELS TRIAL SIZE CABBAGE Wc 8oz 3$1“ CHECK OUT OlttTOP QUALITY BEDDING PLANTS & VEGETABLES FROM RUDY'S & SONS GREENHOUSE THAT'S CUM REFRIED CHOWDER BUNS 39c OLD HOME BUTTER TOP BREAD ALL mm I! ittifii TiT 24 ox "TTi T— f 69‘ 0 WHEAT PANCAKE FLOUR i WHILE SUPPLIES LAST 12 PRICEI CHB 69e Wednesday May 6th 14 ox MARINER'S COVE AD EFFECTIVE THRU 79e 12 ox SPRAY N' WASH western Most religions have no iPANCAKE AND WAFFLE MIX 4b 89c cremations but he says ethnic groups are the hardest to convince of its practicality “They want to buy the best Their hands are up in the air They’re screaming 'Gotta get the best' Okay what’s the best? The best to me is the simplest funeral that can be offered But who's offering it?" "You go into a showroom and you see 20 or 30 caskets They range from a couple of hundred dollars to several thousand The undertaker will say you can have a nice walnut cherry or mahogany “But if you say 'what's the difference if it goes into the ground and disappears or vanishes in a crematory' — he’ll say it’s the memory — the last picture — that counts" Cremation was widespread among the ancients Today it is becoming more acceptable in the United States because of changes in personal values inflation en- vironmental con- siderations and a better awareness of it About 10 percent of all Americans use cremation each year with the ratio of cremations to burials now rising about 1 percent a year Cremation is popular in Japan where it accounts for 80 percent of body disposals as well as in England where the cremation rate is 70 percent In land-poCalifornia and Florida 35 or percent prefer cremation to burial each year but there is also a trend toward cremation in New England where there are 20 crematories seven of which have been built since 1971 But there are none in Hartford One of the closet is in Spring-fiel- d Mass Capobianco wanted to install a crematorium in the carriage house next to his mansion but was over-whelm-ed by neighbors at a public hearing who said that its presence would have a depressing ef- fect on property values One resident said children might be affected knowing peo- ple were being “burned at the stake" It was too much for Jerry The Under- taker He sat in the front row and booed his critica He said funeral directors don't win popularity contests as a rule |