Taking Matters into Your Own Hands

Arranging a funeral is never an easy task. Many years ago, I led a team conducting a performance audit of the Arizona Board of Funeral Directors and Embalmers. During that project I learned much about the ways of the business and the efforts to reform some of its more egregious practices. Central to most of the concerns was the fact that bereaved families are often unable to deal with the vagaries and uncertainties of funeral planning, often incurring expenses that they would otherwise think about more rationally.

All this comes to mind as I watch Maggie arrange for her mother's funeral. I won't go into the details other than to say that she does not feel she is getting straight answers to from the cemetery where her mother will be interred. Due to uncertainties regarding the grave, where Maggie's grandparents are already buried, the cemetery opened the grave to determine what space is available and what will be needed for a third burial. Even so, the answers Maggie has received are frustratingly vague. Maggie, being an individual unwilling to settle for those vague answers, conducted her own inspection.



























You can always do better with first hand information.