YANKTON, S.D. (AP) - Even though we are in the middle of a pandemic, families who lose a loved one can still choose to have a casket, a burial and, thanks to modern technology, funeral events that can still be shared with friends and family, according to local funeral directors.
According to recommendations by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), gatherings are limited to 10 participants, who must all be at least six feet apart and this limit applies to funerals as well.
Even so, local funeral directors say they are continuing to do their best to serve grieving families, as well as those that support them in their time of grieving.
“We set up a Zoom meeting, a virtual visitation, that people can click in and talk to the family for a bit,” Steve Wintz of Wintz & Ray Funeral Home told the Press & Dakotan. “We feel it’s important to have a time where people can still pay their respects, see the family and let them know they’re thinking about them.”
Though churches are mostly on lockdown, clergy have been happy to conduct services at the funeral home, said Kevin Opsahl of Opsahl-Kostel Funeral Home & Crematory.
“So, they just have the service here at the funeral home with a limited number of people,” Opsahl said. “We expose the least number and we control what we clean later.”
A morning funeral is followed by a thorough cleaning, and if there’s an afternoon service, everything gets cleaned again, he said.
“Having a funeral is not out of the question at all,” said Jim Goglin, funeral director for Goglin Funeral Home. “I encourage people to have a funeral if they wish. We’ll make it happen, as long as we follow what the state says we have to do.”
Though there are many families that want to wait to have a funeral until the COVID-19 crisis has subsided, there are still people who would like to do something now - and funeral directors are working to continue to provide options.
“I think the general public is having the knee-jerk reaction when a death happens that they’re going to (have to) cremate right away - and that’s not the case,” Opsahl said. “We can embalm and we can have safe funeral services even though our numbers of people that can attend are limited.”
Currently, funeral directors are also limiting access to the deceased, though the embalming process makes the chances of infection very low, according to industry reports.
“The social distancing isn’t from the deceased,” Goglin said. “It’s from each other, so no one gets sick.”
Social distancing has affected the regular grieving patterns seen at funerals, he said.
“The comforting has gone away, and so it’s even harder on the families now than it was before because they can’t be comforted, even amongst each other,” Goglin said. “Funerals are sad the way it is, but we’ll do everything we can within our power to comfort them.”
Touch is an important part of the way we connect, Opsahl said.
“I see them sitting there,” Opsahl said. “Someone may begin to grieve, and to be able to reach out and press their hand or their elbow or just tap them on the hand or the on the arm - can’t do it anymore - you miss that moment of connection.”
Even families that opt for cremation may not want to wait months for a service, Wintz said.
“People want to reach out to the family - and the family needs that support during this time,” he said. “We just hope everyone’s staying safe and understands that we’re trying to do the best we can to still meet their needs.”
Please read our comment policy before commenting.