A husband and wife walked in to The Ira Kaufman Chapel the other day to pre-arrange their funerals. They are in perfect health and have been spending winters in Florida for a little more than a decade. This winter two of their inner circle of friends in Florida died unexpectedly. It left them uneasy and feeling very unprepared about what to do if they were suddenly in the same position.
Their two children live out of town and they had not selected cemetery space. Their biggest question was, if death occurs in Florida, whom do they call first - the Florida funeral home or The Ira Kaufman Chapel?
My answer to them was to contact us. We would call our colleagues in Florida with whom we work regularly. I took statistical information required for a death certificate as well as what is required these days for newspaper notices. They had no interest in selecting or paying for their funeral ahead of time, but left assured that, if something were to happen, they were armed with the knowledge and confidence to navigate through the experience. I am certain they will also encourage some of their other friends to prepare themselves for a contingency like this.
David M. Techner
Funeral Director
Monday, May 18, 2009
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Is the Funeral Industry Recession-Proof?
It seems appropriate that one of my earliest blogs should be about the economy, since that seems to be first and foremost on everyone's mind these days. We are facing an unemployment rate approaching the highest it has been in my lifetime, the Dow reduced to half its worth in a very short period and real estate numbers a fraction of what they were just a few years ago. Confidence in the future is at an all time low.
In discussing a recession versus a depression, an MSNBC host was asked to explain the difference. "When your neighbor loses his job, it's a recession. When YOU lose your job, it's a depression. Whatever your definition, the one certainty is that our community is experiencing great pain.”
Almost daily someone will tell me, either when I am out in the community somewhere or at the Chapel, that the funeral business is one not affected by the economy - a recession proof business. Think about this for a moment. We meet and interact with families experiencing pain. Never has there been a time when people have come to us hurting so deeply in addition to the grief they are experiencing over the loss of their beloved family member. As in every business, we face challenges in continuing to offer services that have meaning while being sensitive to economic hardships facing our entire community.
David Techner, Funeral Director
In discussing a recession versus a depression, an MSNBC host was asked to explain the difference. "When your neighbor loses his job, it's a recession. When YOU lose your job, it's a depression. Whatever your definition, the one certainty is that our community is experiencing great pain.”
Almost daily someone will tell me, either when I am out in the community somewhere or at the Chapel, that the funeral business is one not affected by the economy - a recession proof business. Think about this for a moment. We meet and interact with families experiencing pain. Never has there been a time when people have come to us hurting so deeply in addition to the grief they are experiencing over the loss of their beloved family member. As in every business, we face challenges in continuing to offer services that have meaning while being sensitive to economic hardships facing our entire community.
David Techner, Funeral Director
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