Elaborate mausoleums—once reserved for the very wealthy—are constructed on cemetery grounds and allow for entombment of both husband and wife, or even entire families. Most folks who select mausoleums do not wish to be buried in the ground, and they assume that a crypt results in a much cleaner disposition. But since heat accelerates decomposition, just imagine the speed of decomposition when the recently deceased is placed in a steel casket, and the casket is slid into a crypt up to twenty feet above ground level in midsummer. Even a well-embalmed body oozes fluids over time, although in a steel sealed casket, it shouldn’t present any problems in a mausoleum setting.
Under certain conditions, however, such as a poorly embalmed or unembalmed body, the use of a cheap or non-sealing casket such as hardwood, or shortcuts made by the embalmer or mausoleum operator, some horrific and disgusting events can occur. I advocate the use of lime in any casket destined for mausoleum entombment. Pour a three- or four-inch bed across the entire length and width of the casket’s bottom, and any fluids will be totally absorbed. Even sealed steel caskets have small pinholes in the corners, and, of course, liquids follow the path of least resistance. Mausoleum operators should therefore not allow a non-sealing casket of any kind, steel or hardwood, to be placed in a crypt. A few mausoleum operators offer for sale a huge, thick plastic bag that surrounds the casket and is zipped up before crypt placement. A good idea, yet some family members either cannot afford such an option or simply choose not to do so.
I have seen evidence, both indoors and outdoors, of bodily fluids that have leaked out of the crypt and down the wall onto the spaces between a mausoleum’s granite letters. Accompanying any leakage is the obvious odor. During the summer months, while conducting funeral services in a mausoleum chapel teeming with that stench, it can become nearly unbearable. Mourners walk through the doors and then look at one another in stunned disbelief, asking, “What’s that awful smell?”
Digging up a casket and vault containing dead human remains and removing said items either to another location in the same cemetery or to a different cemetery is known as exhumation. Exhuming victims for a second autopsy has resolved many mysterious murder cases over the years. I have witnessed several exhumations over the years. The process occurs more frequently than one would imagine.
We funeral directors can observe firsthand whether a burial vault did its job or whether a casket has remained intact or, even upon opening one long buried, whether embalming was adequate. I have seen varying degrees of rusted-out caskets with no burial vault used and pristine-looking caskets that have been inside burial vaults for more than thirty-five years. In many exhumations the casket is opened and most times the sight to behold is extremely unpleasant. What is left of the human form after forty years in the ground is a blackened skeleton. After the flesh deteriorates and drops off, black mold covers everything in sight, including the interior of the casket. I once observed the aforementioned scene with a notable exception—the necktie of the deceased looked brand new! The suit coat, trousers, shirt, socks, and shoes were all but disintegrated, but the polyester necktie remained in place and was still as neatly knotted as it had been forty years earlier.
Cemetery mistakes are the chief cause of disinterments. Perhaps an old caretaker kept all records in his head, not on paper, and would mistakenly bury someone in the wrong grave. Such an error might not be noticed for months—but in many situations, the family immediately recognizes that their loved one is about to be placed in the wrong grave. Such mishaps are just one reason cemeteries require families to sign for burials before the funerals take place—to limit the cemetery’s liability. A significant number of site disputes are probably never settled because families who continue to complain are told that, since they were in such a state of grief at the time of signing, they are to blame for their bad memories and inability to make decisions.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Cremation involves placing a dead human body in a casket or other combustible container, such as a cardboard box, and then placing the container in a cremation chamber or retort, where it is subjected to intense heat and flame. With natural gas burners, both the container and its human contents are incinerated, and substances are consumed or driven off—except for bone fragments and metal, such as dental gold and silver, medical devices, and implants. The remaining non-burnable skeletal fragments are then pulverized in a device that looks like a huge Waring blender. The processed cremains, or ashes, are then placed in a temporary plastic container or urn of one’s choice for final disposition—burial, scattering, or placement on the family mantel or in a columbarium niche, a structure designated specifically for the deposit of urns containing cremains. A columbarium is a smaller-scale mausoleum.
Rental caskets are often used in cremation cases. A cardboard tray insert, hidden by overlay material, is positioned in the bed area. After the funeral service, the deceased is slid out of the casket at one end through a drop-down door, a lid is secured on the cardboard insert, and the deceased goes to the crematory. A new interior and cardboard insert are then slid back into the casket for the next occupant.
I have encountered several situations in which people abhored the idea of a rental casket. One man wanted a complete funeral followed by cremation for his late wife. He absolutely loathed the idea that she would be cremated in a simple cardboard box. He wanted to purchase a very expensive solid cherry casket, hold the funeral service, and then cremate her in the purchased casket. That’s what we did.
Another time a man requested the same thing. He insisted on being with the body of his partner throughout the entire death-care process. When his partner died, he had followed the hearse from the hospital to the funeral home and had waited just outside the preparation room while embalming took place. Afterward, the decedent was placed on a dressing table, attired in a favorite set of silk pajamas and robe, and rolled into the chapel for an initial inspection.
The next day, the man returned, styled his partner’s hair, and purchased a stately solid walnut casket. After the service, he followed the hearse to the crematory and even helped roll the casket into the crematory receiving area. The operator, realizing he had a grieving person observing his every move, made an exception to his usual routine. Normally he would remove the casket lids, knock down the sides and ends with a sledgehammer, and pile the casket material in a corner to be burned on another day. Taking the casket apart down to only the bed on which the deceased is lying allows for a faster cremation and less fuel usage. But this time, the entire casket and its deceased cargo were inserted into the retort under the watchful eyes of a grieving friend.