Respecting the Deceased and the Kin

Funeral directors talk about ethics and their work

Author - if you wrote this story please email nisie@holatexas.us

October 12, 2014

With autumn come the two holidays reflecting somewhat differing views of death:

Halloween – the mostly light-hearted, commercialized, costumed spoofing of death and its myths, Oct. 31.  It’s supposed to be spooky but safe and fun with tasty treats outpacing the tricks.

Dia de los Muertos – the more reverential, less spooky Latino tradition celebrating death and the dead, especially honoring family members, Nov. 1-2.  It’s supposed to be joyful, respectful and often ritualized reminiscing with tasty food offerings at the grave or memorial.

But startling news reports in Fort Worth earlier this year raised eyebrows about how even basic human respect might be denied to both the dead and the deceased’s family survivors.  An owner of one local funeral home was charged with abusing seven corpses placed in the firm’s care for embalming, funeral and/or cremation services.  Reports told of long delays and other possible improper handling of the corpses.  The abuse, officials said, was reflected by decomposing bodies in the mortuary.  Under state law, abusing a corpse is a Class A misdemeanor that can bring a sentence of up to one year in jail and a $4,000 fine.

The now ongoing news story prompted Nuestra Voz de North Texas to ask two mortuary directors in Fort Worth to help inform readers about the professional, ethical and legal procedures for mortuary services.  They agreed, making this story and additional future stories on related topics possible.

Their comments revolved repeatedly around one word: R-E-S-P-E-C-T.  “We are not to cause any additional injury or harm or desecration to the body,” said Dina Salinas, funeral director for Calvario Funeral Chapel, Fort Worth.  At Greenwood Funeral Homes and Cremation, Fort Worth, “all oversight is focused on providing sound fiscal management and quality service for the families we serve,” said John Goobeck, vice president and director in charge.  “All professional embalmers, cremation professionals and funeral directors are licensed by the State of Texas and must meet all the educational and professional requirements that are required for these licenses, including code and guidelines provided by the Federal Trade Commission and the Texas Funeral Service Commission,” Goobeck said.

Salinas said, “We’re taking their loved one into our care, and they, understandably, don’t want to let go.    We don’t rush in.  We treat the deceased and the loved ones with the utmost respect.”

The rules are not always obvious.  Salinas and Goobeck said regulations don’t set specific legal timelines for embalming or cremation.  Such omissions, however, don’t spell delay or dawdling by the client-centered and service-focused mortuary.  There are standards and guidelines.  Proper care for the body will be either immediate refrigeration at effective preservation temperature or prompt work to complete embalming, or both.  The earlier that embalming is performed, logically, the better the overall appearance. So, professional mortician work means delaying no longer than is necessary for family, practical, logistical or legal reasons.

               “Once we have transported the body to our facilities, with permission and crystal clear instructions from the family, we do the embalming right then,” Salinas said.  At Greenwood Goobeck said of embalming or cremation: “After we receive the proper authorization from the family, our standard operating procedure is to have these services completed as promptly as we can.” 

With visitation, funeral or other services that include viewing the deceased’s body, embalming is necessary even when cremation will follow the services, Salinas said.  Cremation, though, must be arranged explicitly by the family and also requires specific legal steps to be performed, according to the experts.

Body identification is critical throughout the process.  An ankle bracelet and a crematory policy of servicing one body at a time can ensure a deceased’s ashes are pure, Salinas said.  Key legal requirements:  1. The doctor of record prior to death must list cause of death.  The doctor must sign the death certificate within five working days after determining cause.  2. The medical examiner must review and approve the certificate and, in an official letter, approve the cremation.  3.  The county clerk and bureau of vital statistics must clear the certificate and grant a transit permit to allow the cremation.

Professional supervision is mandatory at Greenwood, Goobeck said, to ensure correct arrangements, including preparation and filing of the examiner’s letter and all allied forms, removal of the deceased to the mortuary, refrigeration and sanitary care, and the bathing, casketing and cremation.  “Our policy is to provide every family every option every time.  This includes everything from direct cremation to funeral or memorial services, burial or placement of the remains in one of our cemeteries or mausoleums,” Goobeck said.  “But it also may include, dividing the cremated remains.  Many families prefer placement in multiple locations.”  Salinas advises carrying all official documents when transporting the deceased’s ashes outside of local burial or dispersal sites.  “You might need to satisfy law officers or airline security officers that the contents of the transit container are the ashes of a deceased loved one,” she said.

Likewise, without proper documents, transporting a corpse could become a legal problem, according to state law.  Although comprehensive specifics are lacking, the Texas “Abuse of Corpse” law stipulates that “a person commits an offense if the person, without legal authority, knowingly:

(1) Disinters, disturbs, damages, dissects, in whole or in part, carries away, or treats in an offensive manner a human corpse;

(2) Conceals a human corpse, knowing it to be illegally disinterred;

(3) Sells or buys a human corpse or in any way traffics in a human corpse;

(4) Transmits or conveys, or procures to be transmitted or conveyed, a human corpse to a place outside the state; or

(5) Vandalizes, damages, or treats in an offensive manner the space in which a human corpse has been interred or otherwise permanently laid to rest.

End of Part 1