Tales from Kentucky Funeral Homes

1 Funeral and Burial Pracrices through the Years

1 Funeral and Burial Practices through the Years In the days before electricity and indoor plumbing, many families lacked the money to pay for funeral expenses; but funeral directors understood and were willing to wait until payment came later on. People used horse-drawn hearses and handmade caskets (also known as coffins and burial boxes) made by the deceased prior to need. Early embalming often took place at home, which required putting the body fluids into buckets. Sons sometimes helped their funeral-director fathers prepare for funeral services and burials. Bereaved family members were also allowed to help with the embalming process. It was typical in early times to use horses to pick up bodies located in remote areas, and even after the coming of funeral hearses, horses were at times used to pull the hearses/ambulances along muddy roads and across hills in order to reach the appropriate cemetery. In one of the following tales, a one-horse “ambulance” pulled a sled through the woods with a body on it. Ambulance runs for the sick and deceased were performed by virtually all funeral homes until the 1970s. Whether the funeral service was conducted at the funeral home or in a church, there was singing that paid tribute to the deceased, a message by one or more ministers, and then additional singing while friends and community members passed slowly by the casket to pay final respects to the deceased. When the onlookers had gone by, family members moved in closely to take a final look at the departed loved one and perhaps to leave a kiss or caress before the funeral director closed the lid. Ambulance and Death Calls During the early years of having ambulance service in the county, some people would call and ask for the ambulance to be sent, but in their exv  Tales from Kentucky Funeral Homes citement they would not identify themselves nor where the ambulance should go to. The same thing would happen with death calls. The phone would ring and a voice would say, “Daddy passed away (or died). We want you all to come and get him. Our house will be the one with the light on the porch.” That worked pretty well, as we could make a good guess because that might be the only light on that road. But later on when everybody had electricity, and everyone had lights on that road, our strategy was to drive until we saw which house on that road had the most cars out front. Word spreads fast in communities, and people are very close. Family and friends gather around when trouble comes. James M. Pendley, Morgantown, March 3, 2008 Sad Times There’s not a whole lot of excitement in the funeral business. We just hope we are doing good jobs, and will continue to do so, in order to help families get through one of the worst days of their lives. Funerals are sometimes social events. Even though it’s a sad time, it is still a social event that brings family and community members together for the first time in years. William Fields, Ashland, May 7, 2008 Changing Terms Terms have changed over the years. At one time, they called us undertakers ; then they called us funeral directors; then they called us funeral directors and embalmers; and if they really wanted to get fancy, they called us morticians. So, we answered to anybody about anything. I personally am both a funeral director and embalmer. However, here in Kentucky, you can be just a funeral director and not a licensed embalmer, and you can be an embalmer and not a funeral director. In some states, you have to be both. Terry Dabney, Campbellsville, October 13, 2007 Funeral and Burial Practices through the Years  Horse-Drawn Hearse Back in my father’s time he would go to the home of the dead person in a horse-drawn hearse as the means of hauling the body to and from the funeral home. Any transportation had to be done in this hearse. I remember that. Of course, it was waterproof and rain wouldn’t bother anything. He had a good team to pull the hearse, and he would bring the body here to the funeral home and put it in a casket. The family would come in and make arrangements as to where the burial was to take place. Charles McMurtrey, Summer Shade...