In Repose Blog

Embalmer Needed, Please Bring References

"Dear Tim, how do you know if someone is a good embalmer or a bad one?"-- Candace

The answer can only be decided after examining several bodies prepared by the same person.  Little details come into view.

For example, one of the funeral homes that my extended family seems intent on patronizing (against my suggestion) has no idea how to put color back into a body; everyone who they lay out for viewing is ghostly white.  A good embalmer would make sure to add some color to the embalming fluid, use higher-pigmented makeup/powder and install pink lights in the viewing room.

 

The goal of any embalmer is to preserve remains, while at the same time, providing a reassuring picture of peace to the family.  You want them to believe their loved one is resting comfortably.

 

How is that accomplished?  First, a good embalmer will attempt to smooth any lines or wrinkles on the face, which can be done by injecting tissue builder or by massaging the skin during embalming to force fluid into the capillaries.  If the deceased lost weight near death, which altered their appearance, techniques can be used to fill out sunken cheeks, bony hands, etc.

 

In many cases, excess fluid retention, which can make a body look overly bloated, can be relieved and drained during the embalming procedure. 

 

Proper mouth formers (plastic inserts) build up the mouth and chin area.  A good embalmer can cover a bald or shaved spot on the scalp with hair moved from another part of the head.  Reconstruction of damaged bone structure or other disfigurement (usually as a result of a traumatic death) is also in the skillset of a good embalmer.

 

Interestingly, embalming can, in fact, border on art.  A friend of mine does the most beautiful "baseball stitch" on autopsy cases.  The medical examiner usually hands over the body without closing the Y-incision, leaving it to the funeral home to properly embalm the trunk of the body (using "cavity fluid") and stitch the long cut closed.

 

The stitch that he does is quite attractive.  It's even and uniform, the bumps it makes are actually pleasing to the touch.  when he's done, it looks like some type of tribal body modification, not a nasty reminder that the deceased was cut open for investigation.  He even tucks in the tail ends of the wax string, even though the entire incision will be covered by clothing and never seen by the family.

 

Okay, that makes me sound a bit creepy, but remember, this important work has to be done.  And it warms me to know that there are people who care enough about the task to do it right and do it well.

 

Bad embalmers?  They don't usually last long, as that final "memory picture" is the product most funeral homes sell.  A bad embalmer is lazy, rushes the job and doesn't pay attention to the latest techniques.

 

A bad embalmer isn't, necessarily, a bad person or a bad funeral director.  In fact, a few of the directors I know who are REALLY good at dealing with a grieving family have little business being in the preproom.  On the other hand, some of the best embalmers are also the worst at dealing with the living.

Most states require that a funeral director learn to both embalm and direct a funeral, but good embalmers gravitate to the embalming room.  And they like to know about the fruits of their labors.  The first thing a good embalmer asks when a family has been in for a viewing?  "Did they say anything about how the body looked?"

A veteran of the funeral industry, Timothy Totten owns Final Embrace, a funeral industry consulting firm and product manufacturer, and will answer your funeral related question right here on In Repose Blog. Please send all questions to Admin@InRepose.com.

 

Do Corpses have Separate Rooms for Services?

Dear Tim Totten,

Are bodies typically embalmed and dressed in separate rooms or is there an "embalming room" and a "dressing room"?  If they are separate rooms now, do you know whether historically that was the case?

Joseph

Dear Joseph,

This is a great question, since it let's me tell you how the North American funeral industry works.

 

Simple fact:  funeral practices differ by state and by region. Traditional Southern black funerals look a lot different than white Catholic funerals in the Northeast.

 

Funeral homes in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada deal with almost 95% cremation, while funeral homes in Alabama deal with less than 15%. 

 

A long-established firm in New York has roots back to the 1800's, while the measure of success for a funeral home in Florida might be just a few short decades.

 

All this makes it difficult to truly explain the industry in general terms.  Simply, everyone does their thing differently.

 

But there are some generalizations that can be made, if only because the big corporate chains have honed the process and homogenized some of the practices to facilitate staff swapping.

 

At the beginning of my career in funeral service, I worked for the biggest corporation, SCI.  At the time, they owned 11 Central Florida funeral homes, all served from one central facility. 

 

The central facility (called "Central" by everyone in the cluster) handled all the embalming, dressing and casketing of remains.  The staff at Central also printed all of the memorial items, scheduled all the support staff (drivers, visitation workers, etc.) and delivered bodies in caskets along with the flowers from the on-site flower shop to the individual funeral chapels.

 

Because of the volume of cases handled, Central had both an embalming room and a dressing room.  (Actually, I think it still does, although I haven't visited in a few years).  Three embalmers worked roughly 10 hours a day, cleaning bodies and replacing their blood with embalming fluid.  Once done and covered with a sheet, the body was wheeled down the extra-wide hall to the dressing room, where a skilled young man would dress the body, cosmetize the face, hands and other exposed body parts and place the body in the casket.

 

But even in the specific case of "Central," a separate dressing room was only a product of necessity.

 

At the small family firm where I later worked, there is no embalming room or dressing room, as the funeral director employs a trade embalmer to handle his body preparation.  A trade embalmer is someone who either had their own embalming room (usually in their own funeral home) or visits a funeral home's room and handles the procedure. 

 

Funeral directors who pay someone on a case by case basis for embalming aren't necessarily bad embalmers in their own right; they just know that their time and expertise is better spent in other parts of the business.

 

A good friend of mine makes an awesome living as a trade embalmer.  After working in other people's rooms for a while, he eventually opened his own small firm and continued to do prep work for others.  And while his own funeral service has grown, he still does a lot more trade embalming for others than for his own clients.  (It doesn't hurt that he's one of the best embalmers in his geographical area.)

 

Wait... where was I?  Oh, yeah - are there separate rooms for embalming and dressing?

 

I'd have to say that there's no real evidence for either.  Bigger firms might have separate rooms.  Firms who interact with religions that require a family to dress the remains (Muslims wrap the corpse in white cotton, Hindus often dress the body and add perfumes, Buddhists have their own ceremonies) might have a separate dressing room to provide privacy for these processes.

 

At the very least, even the smallest firm will prepare the remains on an embalming table (it has a trough at the inner edge that collects and funnels fluids into the drain area), then transfer to a dressing table (on wheels) for final preparation.

A veteran of the funeral industry, Timothy Totten owns Final Embrace, a funeral industry consulting firm and product manufacturer, and will answer your funeral related question right here on In Repose Blog. Please send all questions to Admin@InRepose.com.

How to Dress a Corpse

"Dear Tim Totten, how do you dress a corpse?" --JS

Every funeral professional uses different techniques when dressing a body.  Some choose to cut the clothes in a continuous line up the back and place them on the body much like a kindergarten teacher would dress a child in a smock for painting.

Others refuse to cut the clothes, prefering to go the more difficult route of dressing the body with the clothing intact.

Either way, there are a few tricks that seem to make the job easier.

The biggest concern is that the person cannot move and is, quite often, too heavy to be lifted for any length of time, meaning that you'll only get a few seconds to pull up skirts & pants or to pull down dresses and shirts.

Since I don't have any photographs of this process (and frankly, who wants to betray a client's trust by taking THOSE pictures?) I'll describe the most difficult process - dressing a man in a full suit and tie.

First, it should be noted that most funeral professionals will use undergarments, even when none are provided.  Often, this expense is not factored into the charges paid by a family.  Still, most professionals see it as a matter of honor that their clients are fully dressed, even if their families do not provide the appropriate garments.

(Of course, there are always times when a family requests that undergarments NOT be used.  A woman once gave me clothes for her husband but had neglected to give me underwear.  She said he never wore them.  But she stressed that we had to use the heavy wool socks she'd included because "he ALWAYS wore socks!")

Similarly, shoes are left to a family's wishes.

Since dressing is always done before you style the hair or add cosmetics, we'll start with a clean body.  Undergarments are first, meaning underwear, socks and undershirt, if provided.  Place the feet and through the underwear and move the garment up the legs.  Lifting the thigh will help position the underwear over the buttocks.  Socks are best scrunched up like you'd do to put them on a child.

Undershirts can be harder to place, especially if you don't want to cut the clothes.  Embalmed arms are often stiff and will not bend at the elbow joint.  However, the shoulder joint is usually more flexible.  Place the scrunched-up shirt on the stomach, guide both arms through the bottom of the shirt and out the arm holes.  Pull the shirt up the arms, keeping it gathered.  Grasping the back "scrunched" section and lifting the arms into a "touchdown" position, pull the shirt over the head.  Now you can place a hand between the shoulders and lift up to facilitate pulling the shirt down over the back.

Pants go on just like underwear, provided that you have placed the belt into the loops BEFORE you pull up the pants.

Long-sleeved dress shirts and suit coats are the hardest to place.  (You can always cut them, but that's to easy for some people and ruins the garment, which can cause problems if the family asks you to return a garment after the viewing)

To dress a corpse in a coat or long-sleeved shirt, open the coat or shirt and place it on the person's midsection, with the neck facing their feet and the inside of the garment against the body.  While pulling the tail of the garment toward the head, feed the arms into the sleeves.  Pull the garment up to the armpits.

With a hand on the neck of the garment, pull the material over the head.  It helps to have an assistant raise the arms ("touchdown" again) while you complete this procedure.  Once the garment is over the head, lift the shoulders to pull the garment down the back.

Unfortunately, there are times when the garments are too small or the body is too stiff to allow this procedure.  In those cases, it is necessary to position the garment under the buttocks and pull up along the back.

Most professionals use this option as a last resort, because it usually requires extra lifting help, depending upon the size of the person being dressed.

To accomplish this, lift the legs and place the garment under the buttocks with the neck facing toward the head and the inside of the garment touching the body.  Make sure you gather up the remaining fabric before you lower the legs.  Push the hands down on either side and feed through the sleeves.  Lifting at the shoulders, pull the garment up to the shoulders.

It's interesting to note that many professionals find affixing a tie to be the hardest part.  While most male and some female funeral professionals wear ties everyday, they're not practiced tying it on someone else.  This is why some will fix the client's tie around their neck and slip it back off to put it on the body.

Dressing a woman is usually easier, with the exception of bras and pantyhose.  And before someone else asks - YES, bras are necessary.  They help to position breasts, giving the corpse a more natural look.  While many will claim that breasts are supposed to take a naturally "sagging" position when a person is prostrate, the mental picture being offered by an embalmed body should more closely match the way a person looked at their best.  And most women I know will say that looking your best means wearing a bra.

On a personal note, my grandmother stopped wearing a bra after her husband died.  She just didn't care any more.  In fact, she only owned two when she died; each was attached to a hanger with her "Sunday Best" clothes that she wore to special functions.

As previously stated, you could always cut the clothes up the back, making the effective dressing time about five minutes, but it can cause certain issues, like the time my friend ripped a coat and was out $200.

What happened?  His new employee was having trouble getting a coat on a body.  He hung the coat back up and went to get the boss.  His boss (my friend) took the coat of the hanger, told him to watch how it's done, grasped the two back halfs of the coat at that little split vent in the rear and proceeded to rip the coat all the way to the back collar.

After they'd easily dressed the deceased and placed him in the casket, they decided to wheel him into the chapel.  Now, my friend stands on occasion, and he never, ever moves into the main parts of his funeral home without being fully dressed.

Can you guess what happened when he took his coat off the rack and tried to put it on?
Of course, it was too small, because he'd torn his own coat and placed it on the deceased!
My friend reports that he no longer cuts, tears rips or even removes a button from clothes now.

A veteran of the funeral industry, Timothy Totten owns Final Embrace, a funeral industry consulting firm and product manufacturer, and will answer your funeral related question right here on In Repose Blog. Please send all questions to Admin@InRepose.com.

Deathcare Professional Preventing Death?

Dear Tim,

In all of the decades come and gone, medical science has seen great advances. Certain diseases have been eradicated and prevented with annual innoculations,surgeons can now do all sorts of micro-surgery with great accuracy, neuro-surgery, even surgery on unborn children to prevent problems at birth.

    I also know that the funeral profession has come it's own long way.

At this time, it is a fact that we will all face our own death one day. What I want to know is if anyone has ever thought of the funeral profession teaming up with specialized pathologists to find acceptable ways to prevent death? Could this conceivably ever be done? If it could, do you think that professionals who come in lives after ours would pick up on the work if anyone who were to pioneer it? --Dan H.

Your question is intriguing, if only because it points out how little our industry tells the public about what we actually do and how easily television and other popular media can twist the facts about deathcare.

Compared to the healthcare industry, techniques in deathcare evolve at a very slow pace. Funeral professionals are concerned with preserving remains and creating the best possible "final memory" for a family of mourners.

To do that, we deal most often in appearances and illusion. We use makeup to cover blemishes and inject fluids to fill out hollow cheeks. On any given day we might apply a color rinse to graying hair, reconstruct an ear or nose on an accident victim or even transfer hair from the back of a person's head to cover an area shaved for brain surgery.

But the delicate work we do, while creating the appearance of health and vitality (an important memory picture for a grieving family), has no connection to lifesaving procedures or preserving life in any way.

In fact, the embalming process, which replaces blood with preservative fluids, hasn't changed much in over 100 years. And while the technology has evolved (we now have more advanced pumps and machines) the techniques are tried and true.

After reading your question several times, I have concluded that you might be mistaking the funeral profession for the position of coroner or medical examiner. And while some funeral directors are also pathologists, serving as their area's coroner, skills used in the funeral profession are not meant to preserve or protect life.

Your question about funeral professionals teaming up with pathologists to "find acceptable ways to prevent death" reminds me of a conversation I often have with my non-funeral friends.

    FRIEND:  How's business?
    ME:  Slow.
    FRIEND:  That's good.  At least for the people who aren't dying.
    ME:  Yeah, but it doesn't pay the bills.  --TIM

A veteran of the funeral industry, Timothy Totten owns Final Embrace, a funeral industry consulting firm and product manufacturer, and will answer your funeral related question right here on In Repose Blog. Please send all questions to Admin@InRepose.com.

Make-up for the Deceased

What qualifications does it take to be a "corpse beautician"? Do they use special makeup that sticks to the skin or just what the family brings? --Jamie A.

Cosmetics used in the funeral industry fall into two categories:  commercial products created just for funeral professionals and over-the counter products like you might use.  The products used by specific funeral homes will depend upon the preference of the funeral professional and the needs of the case.

Qualifications for a cosmetician will vary by state and funeral home.  Some states require licensure for funeral cosmetics while others only require certification for beauticians working with live clients.

A common misconception is that funeral directors are constantly looking for someone to do this work.  In reality, any funeral director worth his/her degree can apply basic cosmetics to man, woman or child.  Often, this job is left to a staff associate (non-licensed personnel) who handles dressing the body and casketing the remains.

Yes, you read correctly:  men and children require cosmetics.  The embalming process replaces blood with embalming fluid.  And while embalming fluid is designed to re-create the pink glow that blood adds to human skin (and yes, even darker-skinned folks have a "pinkish glow" that's aided by blood flowing under the epidermis) it is not as dark or strong as human blood.

Because of this "blood" factor, everyone needs cosmetics.  But the end result is seldom based upon the brand of cosmetics used.  The skill of the person doing the cosmetic work is the biggest deciding factor.

Few families provide their own cosmetics, except in cases where the deceased had certain coloration needs or the family has a special request.  Most funeral professionals will not use bright pink lipstick, rouge or nail polish unless specifically directed by a client.

In other cases, the cosmetician needs to use specialized cosmetics that are not available to consumers.  Covering dark arm bruising caused by numerous IV's is accomplished with a heavy industry-specific concealer.  Wax fills holes left by tubes and covers the small incision required by the embalming process.  Tissue builder can be injected in the lower epidermal layers to fill out the cheeks, chin and forehead of a person who experienced drastic weight loss during his/her last days.

In a typical case, a base color is brushed across the entire face, neck and hands.  A light pink powder (rouge) is skillfully added to cheeks, chin, nose and forehead.  Eyebrows are highlighted with dark pencil.  Nose and other extraneous hairs are trimmed or plucked.  Most cosmeticians ignore eye shadow, as it doesn't look natural.  Light lip color (even for men) is added in a neutral tone.

Blemishes on the hands or exposed arms is covered with a strong concealer.  Fingernails are trimmed and cleaned (nursing home residents have some atrociously dirty fingernails).

The last step is to seal it all with powder.  This is the one item that a professional will NOT skimp on.  Powder is necessary to set the makeup and give the "paint" definition and, for lack of a better word, "life."

Most funeral homes use special lighting in their chapel or viewing rooms that casts a pink tone on the casket area.  This adds even more "rose" color to the body, giving the impression of good health and life.

So often I hear people claim that they don't want people looking at them after they die.  They "don't want my family to see me that way."  Conversations with these folks invariably reveal that they've seen some pretty awful cosmetic jobs at funerals and they don't want to look like that.  Pale, pale skin or lifeless, overcosmetized bodies are the result of bad work by the cosmetician.

Is it hard to cosmetize a body?  No.  Anyone can slap on some makeup.  The trick is in making the person look like the best possible version of their past self. A good funeral professional can do that.

A veteran of the funeral industry, Timothy Totten owns Final Embrace, a funeral industry consulting firm and product manufacturer, and will answer your funeral related question right here on In Repose Blog. Please send all questions to Admin@InRepose.com.

 

Why Funeral Directors LOVE their Buildings

Today In Repose warmly welcomes Tim Totten as a regular contributor with our exclusive column, "Ask Our Funeral Professional". A veteran of the funeral industry, Timothy Totten owns Final Embrace, a funeral industry consulting firm and product manufacturer, and will answer your funeral related question right here on In Repose Blog.

Dear Tim, why does it seem like funeral directors are so much in love with their buildings?  --Candace C.

Before the Civil War, death in America was handled by the family of the deceased.  The body might be wrapped in sheets or placed in a quickly constructed wooden box.  For rural Americans, a "cemetery" was really just a part of the family farm roped off or fenced off for burials.  Few families would pay (or could afford) an undertaker to do their familial duty.

But the Civil War changed death in this country.  Many young men died far from home.  In an effort to preserve remains for the long trip home, physicians and others began embalming some of the bodies.

And since embalming is so good at preserving remains and making a body look better after death, it grew in popularity, even among those who did not need to ship remains over long distances.

Still, even though there was a greater demand for expert embalming services, most families handled their own funeral arrangements.  A casket might be purchased from the local furniture store, but the visitation was likely to happen in the family's "parlor" and the service in a local church of at the cemetery.

The industrial revolution changed funerals once again.  As people moved into tighter quarters (cities, suburbs, etc.) the availability of family burial space and large home visitations waned.  Furniture sellers, noticing the immediate and necessary nature of casket sales, sent their sons and nephews to embalming school in an effort to capture local business (why not save time and money by purchasing your embalming and casket from the same man?).

In time, the more successful men dropped the furniture store altogether and struck out as undertakers.

At the turn of the century, a push began to create "funeral parlors."  Some called their building a "home for funerals."

Often, the funeral director would convert the lower story of a large house into a "home for funerals" and use the upper story or stories as a "home for his family."  In this way, he was close to his work (which requires 24-hour supervision) and saved on overhead.

But you're still wondering:  Why do they care so much about their building?

When trying to sell a family on using a more expensive "home for funerals" over a "home funeral," the director had to show that his own furnishings and building were more attractive and provided a nicer setting. 

Early funeral home ads tout the spaciousness of a building or the desirable location of the property.  At times, the local funeral parlor rivaled the mayor's house or the millionaire's house in beauty and size, becoming a landmark for the community.

As funeral homes embraced technology (Electric lights! Motorized hearses!) buildings were updated.  For funeral homes offering the same services as their competitors, the only way to differentiate was with big ads screaming "Updated facilities", "Latest comforts!", etc.

At the same time, ad salespeople looking for an easy sale started making line drawings of local businesses (think 1950's when there weren't a lot of Xerox machines).  You may have seen school yearbook ads or newspapers from the era that feature a line drawing of your local bank or the feed store.  Funeral directors were not immune to the egotistical desire to have a pretty drawing of their famous local business.

Unfortunately for today's consumer, funeral directors still haven't figured out how to sell their services or differentiate themselves from the competition.  Funeral home websites are bursting with pictures of empty chapels, barren visitation rooms and cold, lifeless lobbies.

In an effort to present a blank canvas for prospective clients to "paint their own funeral" funeral directors fall short and offer mere pictures of a building.

I don't think it's effective and I know that it's part of the reason that today, fewer Americans see value in a traditional funeral. --Timothy Totten

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