Tuesday, February 24, 1976
University Daily Kansan
7
Funeral business described . . .
From page one
cremations, not done in this area, weren't any cheaper than burials.
McElwain said that after paying off all his overhead expenses, he made about $100 profit on a $1,100 funeral. Rumsey said he didn't know what his profit would be.
Caskets can cost anywhere from $75 to $100 for a doctwover wooden box to move easily. The most expensive is $1,600.
Most of his profit, he said, is based on the mark-up on the items that can be bought and 200 items.
McElwain said that most people bought coffins costing about $450, and that his overhead expenses for the funeral would run about $650 to $950.
However, McElwain said, "We don't provide any less for standardized services for those who have less than others. We also eliminate against people who can't afford it."
BOTH RUMSEY and McElwain said that they would provide funeral services for nothing if a person didn't have any money. "There's nothing else to be done," McElwain said. "They'll take care of the people who are grieving." This business to make a profit, but we are also in this business to provide a public service."
He added, however. "There are very few people who can't afford to pay anything." Often social security will pay $255 for each year of work. Administration will支付 $400, he said.
The cost of a funeral, he said, could be broken down into five areas: casket fee (amounting to 90 man hours), the services (amounting to 90 man hours), the equipment and facilities, the cost of automotive equipment and miscellaneous expenses, as musicians, cemetery workers, flowers.
MCELWAIN SAID that the Kansas price disclosure law said he must give a family an itemized statement cost of services based on these areas.
Poet reads own work
A silent audience listened attentively last night as a poet read his poems in a soft, soothing tone.
Robert Duncan, noted San Francisco group of about 17 people in the Big Eight.
The reading was sponsored by the department of English at the University of Kansas as part of its Writer-In-Residence program.
"My work is directed toward the origin of man, his beginnings and failures." Duncan said after the reading. "It's one of my enduring interests."
Duncan, born in Oakland, Calif. graduated from the University of California nearly 30 years ago. That was when he cultivated his interest in poetry, he said
Duncan has five collections of his work now in print, in addition to a book of essays. He said he was planning a new collection to be called "groundwork," a group of poems dealing with aging, which is one of his developing interests.
"These books constitute my Brownie points; what I put in 'Groundwalk' is my own interpretation."
Poets often seem to put out a new collection of poems every three years, Duncan said, which is comparable to production in the Detroit car industry.
"The books I have in print are keeping their little daddo in the cookies," he said.
Duncan read several poems about the creation of the present form of man, based on the theory that there were other forms of humanity and what had human intelligence and feelings.
He said he was glad he could get away from his reputation as a contemporary poet so he could experiment with more traditional styles.
Duncan's most recent collection of poems is titled "Bening the Bow," from which he recites:
Many of his poems are written on the inside covers of books in his library and on the walls of the building.
"I'm intrigued by what somebody will think in the future at some second-hand bottle when he finds my poems," he said. "He'll wonder what old codger drew them in."
There is a certain amount of risk involved in running a funeral home. Both funeral directors said that working on corpse was something that could be dangerous because it is difficult to keep the body clean.
Hepatitis, streptococcus, meningitis, tuberculosis and other contagious diseases have to be protected against by the use of rubber gloves and aprons, they said.
McElwain said morticians were trained in sciences such as pathology, anatomy, chemistry, plastic surgery and in various business courses. His training, he said, made it possible for him to get a job just about anywhere.
The cost of dying involves other businesses besides the mortician's such as an insurance company or a private bank.
IVIANA MIER, office manager of the Oak Hill and Maple Grove cemeteries said that the cost of burials hadn't changed since she that she has been with the city cemetery.
In 1966, a burial plot cost from $60 to $112.50 and labor costs for opening and filling the grave cost $60. Now, she said, labor has gone up to $95. On Saturdays or holidays, she said, a $50 charge is added for overtime labor.
Oak Hill Cemetery comprises about 40 acres of land and is located on East 15th, Maple Grove Cemetery is on Highway 24 north of Lawrence.
"A a Carmethy is very interesting work. You have to get to like it, you have to get to like people," she said. "I've been in this business for 30 years. I learned that you can make the best of things. Of course, you have to faith in the good Lord, I think."
SHE SAID that her work was very rewarding because she helped people in times of need and spent a lot of time adven-
turing to the business financial and emotional aspects of death.
Mier said that her husband, who died four years ago, used to run the cemetery with her. Her husband would park cars or talk to customers about arrangements, she said.
The trauma of a loved one's death, she said, can be eased by having sensitive people around.
"In a time like this they don't really
"EVERYBODY'S NOT qualified for it," she said of the cemetery business. "If you don't really like it, you're not worth a darn."
Mier said many customers appreciate her sympathetic advice and has come back to me.
realize what a funeral home does," she said of the relatives of a deceased person.
Oak Hill Cemetery isn't a profit-making business, she said. However, she added, some people are very demanding about their time and that should have to navy extra for more services.
Cemetery service involves setting up the grave site and assuring the smooth progress of any ceremonies. About 137 people were buried there last year, she said.
The cost of running a cemetery has gone up like everything else, Mier said, but costs of running the cemetery haven't increased as drastically.
"We're kind of on the tail end on everything we do." Don't ask me why be聊了, do I know?
"Appearances mean a lot," Mier said. "I grew up with a lot of respect for a owner."
"IT IS TOUCHY," she said of determining prices. "Of course there are some you have to lay it on the line. But usually I have the one they want and I ask them how they'd like to pay for it."
Harold E. Garrett, manager of the Memorial Cemetery across the street from Oak Hill, said that "people today get just what they pay for."
She said that many people bought their lots ahead of time as insurance against forcing the family to worry about business concerns.
He said that cemeteryers were more and more coming to be considered public utilities because they served the public. He said there were buried at Memorial each year, he said.
**PRICES FOR grave plots at Memorial Cemetery are $175 but cost $150 on the "premed" plan of buying graves in advance.** Plan and purchase costs are $125. On Saturdays and holidays it is $165.
"The principle of this park here," he said.
Garrett said that a memorial park didn't have all the clutter of tornbones but just a few. "It's a bit like the beach," he says.
"is that it is a place of the living and not of the dead."
Markers are now made of granite because of its durability, he said. He said that cemetery rules required graves to have either a vault or a two-piece box into which the coffin is placed. This cuts down on the amount of settling of the earth and required maintenance. The average cost of a steel vault, Rumsey说, is $275.
MAUSOLEUMS and above-ground crypts, Garrett said, are an alternative to a hammered sand, said however, that few could afford a hammered sand ranged from about $750,000 to $1 million.
The service his cemetery provides, he said, includes dirt removal from a freshly graveutzer because it bothers people. Garrett said that when people paid the cemetery on a "pre-need" plan, state law requires 15 per cent of their money be placed in a maintenance fund which could draw interest making "pre-need" less expensive.
Cemetery expenses have been increasing
about 5 per cent every year, Garrett said.
They are supposed to be a profit
cometer," he said, "but sometimes I
wonder."
PROFIT IS SOMETHING that is a part of
in being in business, Garrett said.
"Somebody has got to do this business," he said. "War isn't nice either, is it? But somebody has to sell that ammunition. But nevertheless you have them and it's somebody in business that supplies the need."
Garrett said that being around death don't make it look at it any differently than it did before he was ejected in a glass.
"The only thing is that you get used to being around death," he said.
The funeral business is based greatly on recognizing the existence of a person after death. Grave markers are, therefore, part of the business.
"I do think he grave should be marked and I do people like so," said Martín Martin, owner of Lawrence Museum Company, 810 E. 13th. "I suppose there's a certain amount of
satisfaction in making sure things are in a sequence of order."
A GRAVE marker can range in price from $4 for a baby-sized marker to $1,290.
Most people buy one costing about $123,123. said many people alsobuy on a "pre-need" basis. he said that he sold a grave marker recently to some people who wanted to remark the grave of a baby already dead 100 years.
Like all those in the funeral business interviewed, Martin said that a profit had to be made. But McElwain said that there was no benefit in the funeral industry than just business.
MeElwain said that social customs and religion greatly influenced the kind of beliefs he taught.
"We don't consider ourselves to be psychiatrists," he said. "We're funeral directors. One of the best services we provide is listening. The families might have a lot of anger and a lot of times we're a sounding board."
The business of funeral homes is also an open market, McElwain said. Although funeral homes are traditionally family-oriented, the number of directors in the next 10 years are good.
VOLUNTEER CLEARING HOUSE is taking applications for 1976-77. We are looking for: dedicated, concerned students to fill positions such as Big Brother/Big sister coor-mentation bldg relations, agency contact, etc.
To schedule an interview or obtain further information call the VCH office between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. daily, or drop by our office at 114B Union.
This organization is funded from the student activity fee.
"I've had people say, 'Don't you get depressed and isn't it morbid?' he said. "I think you have to have a real idea of what you're going to do to the point where death is meaningless."
"Death occurs in my family too."
Minority Affairs Cultural Enrichment Programs
2nd Annual Speaker and Film Series
Presents:
"A DIFFERENT DRUM"—Story of a young Comanche boy torn between his families desire for him to attend college and his own natural aptitude for auto mechanics.
Pizza Hut.
"SIOUX LEGENDS"—The history and legends of Sioux ancestors. Shows scenes of daily life and magical stories.
Luncheon Specials 11:00 - 1:30
MONDAY THRU FRIDAY
Pizza Hut' Salad
- thin N Crispy — any 10 - single topping $1.79
- Thick N Chewy — any 10 - single topping $2.24
- Additional Topping 10 each
Deep Dish Spaghetti . . . $ . 99
Above pasta served piping hot with Garlic Bread.
Cavatini deep dish pasta $1.29$
Cavatini Supreme deep dish pasta $1.39$
**Sandwiches**
Sandwich Supreme      $11.19
Cheese Sandwich      $11.19
Ham & Cheese Sandwich   $11.19
Sandwiches served either hot or cold with pickle
dressing
Tues. Feb. 24, 1976
804 Iowa
1606 W. 23rd St.
7:00 p.m. Rm. 3 Bailey
KU-Y ADVOCATE SERIES PRESENTS
SENATE BILL 1
For more information call 864-4353
Are we to enter our third century under Richard Nixon's criminal code?
THE ADVOCATES:
Denis Hauptley (Attorney)
US Justice Department
Washington D.C.
Karen Blank (KU Student)
Executive Director Kansas
Civil Liberties Union
Thursday, Feb. 26
7:30 P.M.
Jayhawk Room
in the Union
Audience Will Be Invited To Participate In Discussion
Partially funded by Student Senate
every Wednesday 12:30 1:00 pm darf forth chapel
seminum 019
GET YOUR TICKETS SOON!
To be sure of a seat on Friday March 5 in Hoch Auditorium theatre to see this great comedy variety show.
Tickets Available at the S.U.A. Ticket Office
and at Every Bank in Lawrence
Prices: Friday, March 5-$2.00 and $3.00
Saturday, March 6—Sold Out
The 26th Annual
A BICENTENNIAL PARODY
Rock Chak Reuse is sponsored by the KU- Y and partially funded by the Student Senate.
will be
ROCK CHALK REVUE
Bicentennial Buy
76¢
2 Cheeseburgers and Order of Fries
Good thru Sunday, Feb. 29
2120
W. 9th
842-1811 . . . ASK FOR STATION #6
BAD COMPANY RUN WITH THE PACK
shop
Warner Bros.
Sale this week only February 24-27
Mfg. List $^{698}$
PRETTY THINGS
SAVAGE EYE
$3.99
KIEF'S DISCOUNT RECORDS AND STEREO HALF DURING SUMMER CENTER LINDENE KANAS B 812 842 1564
MALLS SHOPPING CENTER LAWRENCE, KANSAS 1-913-842-1544