A Little Egg Harbor, NJ, woman has been charged with creating a GoFundMe account to solicit money for the “funeral” of a child she had actually relinquished for adoption.

Holly Garcia, 33, was soliciting $5,000 for funeral expenses from the crowdfunding site, claiming her four-year-old son had died of cancer, according to a press release from the Burlington County Prosecutor’s Office. In reality, Garcia had placed the child for adoption with a couple from Pemberton Township.

The child’s adoptive parents noticed that the boy’s picture was being used to solicit the funds and alerted the police. An investigation by the prosecutor’s office and the Pemberton Township Police Department found that Garcia had created multiple bogus GoFundMe campaigns, including one that solicited money for an urn for the child’s cremains, according to the press release.

Garcia was charged with computer criminal activity and attempted theft by deception, the prosecutor’s office said.

The fake campaigns were removed from the GoFundMe site when the authorities notified the company. The prosecutor’s office said that Garcia received no money from the campaigns before they were taken down.

A Hollywood star gets in trouble on social media for calling a cemetery in New York her “happy place.” Cremations account for nearly 90 percent of dispositions in South Korea. And a funeral services feud in Russia leads to law enforcement raids. These stories and more are in the week in funeral news.

NEWS

Alabama Funeral Homes on a Mission for to Promote Voting
By Mya Johnson (ABC 33/40 News)
Funeral homes across Jefferson County, AL, are trying to raise awareness about the importance of voting. More than a dozen hearses lined the streets in a procession recently. The goal is to make sure no voice goes unheard in this vital election. “This is something people died for, people sat in lines for and at this point right now at the weekly court houses people are waiting two-three hours just to vote. If people find it that important to wait you should really investigate why it’s so important,” said Funeral Directors and Morticians Associations Vice President Arlillian Bushelon. Read more here.

Actor Is Facing Backlash after Posing for Photos in a Cemetery and Calling the Burial Ground Her “Happy Place”
By Amanda Krause (Insider)
Vanessa Hudgens is facing backlash in response to her latest Instagram posts. The actor shared two versions of a photo showing herself posing in New York's Sleepy Hollow Cemetery while wearing a black vest, matching skirt, fishnet tights, long gloves, a face mask, and combat boots. She originally described the burial ground as her "Happy place.” Read more here.

Learning To Clean and Preserve Gravestones in Newburgh's Oldest Burial Ground
By Mike Randall (Times Herald-Record)
Every gravestone tells a story. But over time, nature tends to cover the details of those stories with dirt, pollen dust, and other things that get blown onto the stone and obscure its message. Sixteen residents from the Newburgh, NY, area got a lesson in the proper way to clean and preserve gravestones at a workshop offered by the Orange County Historian's office. Read more here.

Batavia, NY, Funeral Home Director Facing 15 New Charges
By Spectrum News
A New York funeral home director accused of stealing from customers and allowing a body to decompose in a garage is facing 15 new charges. Michael Tomaszewski, 48, has been arraigned on multiple counts of grand larceny and other charges. That's after investigators say 11 new victims came forward about incidents at the Funeral and Cremation Chapel in Batavia, NY. Read more here.

Police Raid Offices of Moscow’s Second-Biggest Mortuary Amid Corporate Feud
By Meduza
The Moscow, Russia, police raided the local office of the “Ritual Service” mortuary recently and seized several documents, the firm’s co-owner, Oleg Shelyagov, told the news agency RBC. The officers were from the Moscow Northern Administrative District’s Economic Security and Anti-Corruption Department, Shelyagov says. “Ritual Service” director Denis Marshavin told RBC that he suspects the police raid is connected to his company’s feud with “Ritual,” the state-financed funeral home that dominates Moscow’s mortuary industry. Read more here.

TRENDS

Nearly 90 Percent of Decedents in South Korea Last Year Cremated, but Crematoriums in Short Supply
By The Korea Herald
Nearly 90 percent of those who died in South Korea last year were cremated, but crematorium services in the country are falling short of the growing demand, government data showed. The rate of cremation has been on a steady increase over the years, rising from 79.2 percent in 2014 to hit the 80 percent mark the next year. It has since posted further growth every year to 82.7 percent in 2016 and to 86.8 percent in 2018, according to the data. Read more here.

Some funeral home owners saw a dip in the salaries they receive from their businesses in 2019 while many others reported that their compensation remained static, according to recent data gathered in national and state surveys.

A Kates-Boylston survey of 135 funeral directors nationwide, reported in an edition of Funeral Service Insider, indicates that 71 percent of funeral home owners kept their salary the same as in 2018 and 7 percent actually took less pay.

Conversely, the same survey showed a bump in the average owner salary reported of more than $6,000 a year to $127,816. That average, however, could be skewed by outliers on the high end of the salary scale or by a vastly different set of respondents from the 2018 survey. Interestingly, the 2018 Kates-Boylston survey indicated that 61 percent of owners did not take an increase in salary from the previous year.

Closer to home, the Thanexus Annual Report showed licensed owners made an average of $121,639 in 2019, which is down from $130,101 in 2018. The Thanexus survey is based on actual W-2 wages and is the only true source of actual labor and wage data for New Jersey’s funeral service professionals.

The percent of owners who either kept their salaries the same or took less money in 2019 can be explained by normal business practices, Gene Ogrodnik, president and CEO of the Pittsburgh Institute of Mortuary Science, said to Kates-Boylston.

“For those owners whose salaries went down … that may be explained by either a loss of market share by hiring a new employee because the owner didn’t want to work as hard as … in the past,” Ogrodnik said. “Likewise, the 71 percent whose compensation remained the same, did so, because the business remained relatively stable or static.”

The Northeast Funeral Service Partnership Survey, while not calculating an average salary, did show that 46 percent of owners polled made more than $100,000 a year. That number is up from the previous Northeast Partnership survey, which indicated that 41 percent made more than $100,000. The five states comprising the Northeast Funeral Service Partnership are Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania.

Licensed Non-owners

The Kates-Boylston survey also showed that 43 percent of the most experienced funeral directors earned the same salary in 2019 as they did the year before. Another 2 percent made less. Among the least experienced funeral directors, 46 percent earned the same salary and 1 percent made less.

The Thanexus survey showed a slight bump in the average salary of licensed non-owners, from $78,590 in 2018 to $79,435 in 2019. Newly licensed directors made $47,806 in 2019, a small increase from the $47,646 earned in 2018.

The average numbers in the Kates-Boylston report showed increases in compensation for licensed non-owners from 2018 as well. The most experienced directors earned $76,675 and the least experienced earned $45,709. Both of those numbers are up from 2018, when salaries of $70,587.50 and $45,508.75 were reported.

In the Northeast Partnership survey, 35 percent of funeral directors with more than 15 years of experience earned between $70,000 and $99,000 a year. The survey also showed that 32 percent of funeral directors with less than two years of experience earned between $30,000 and $59,000 a year.

The New Jersey State Funeral Directors Association Board of Directors has received the following officer nomination for the 2021-2022 governance cycle:

• Tara M. Scarponi-Danniballe for 2nd Vice President, nominated by the Tri-County Funeral Directors Association.

The deadline for submissions of officer nominations is June 1, 2021.

Violence at a Chicago, IL, cemetery has an alderman proposing drastic measures. A funeral director discusses caring for families of COVID-19 victims. And a Louisiana funeral home sees way too much of a visitor. These stories and more in the week in funeral news.

CORONAVIRUS NEWS

London Funeral Worker Accompanies Grieving Families Through the COVID-19 Crisis
By Yahoo! News
Sarah Bax works in a funeral home in London, England, and has taken care of many grieving families since the pandemic broke out in Europe's worst-hit country. View video here.

NEWS

Fed Up with Funeral-Related Violence, Alderman Proposes Annexing Chicago, IL, Cemetery
By Fran Spielman and Frank Main (Chicago Sun-Times)
A Chicago, IL, alderman is fed up with having his Beverly and Morgan Park constituents pay the price for Mount Hope Cemetery being the burial ground of choice for gang members gunned down on the streets. Read more here.

Trial Delayed for Colorado Mother and Daughter Accused of Selling Body Parts
By Dan Beedie (KRDO)
According to court documents, a judge granted the defense's motion for continuance. The defense argues they need more time to prepare for trial, which has become increasingly more difficult to do during a pandemic. The trial may not begin until late spring or early summer of 2021. Read more here.

FEATURES

A Conversation with the National Museum of Funeral History’s President
By Click2Houson
Genevieve Keeney, the president and chief operating officer of the National Museum of Funeral History discussed her longtime preoccupation with death, her path to the funeral museum in Houston, TX, and the importance of an institution dedicated to the history of the funeral industry. Read more here.

Free Burials and Unveilings Help Mourners Who Can’t Afford to Pay
By Justin Vellucci (Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle)
Ensuring each Jew receives a proper Jewish burial, regardless of their status in society or financial means, is a concept that has been well established for centuries. Read more here.

ODDS AND ENDS

Louisiana Man Accused of Stripping in Funeral Home Parking Lot
By Ashley Mott (Monroe News-Star)
The complainant said the man began stripping in the parking lot of the McFarland Funeral Home in Monroe, LA. He was asked to leave the property several times but refused. Read more here.

Funeral directors in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania are concerned about their businesses’ profitability and changing customs that undercut the types of services they typically provide.

A survey conducted earlier this year by the Northeast Funeral Service Partnership among funeral directors in the five states shows that financial worries remain the top issues for funeral professionals as the funeral business continues to change. A total of 82 percent of respondents say that profitability and cash flow are extremely important, with 70 percent agreeing that changing customs and non-traditional funerals are a concern. Also, 69 percent said that direct disposition and cremation are essential issues.

The results are not surprising, as people’s attitudes toward faith traditions have continued to evolve. A 2019 report found that 77 percent of funeral directors surveyed said that requests for funerals to be held outside of traditional religious settings have increased since 2014. Additionally, the percentage of cremations as a form of disposition continues to increase.

While funeral directors are concerned about changing traditions, a vast majority – 81 percent – say that most of their clients still choose to hold religious services for decedents.

Intern Training

Funeral directors are also concerned about the job-readiness of candidates for an internship, with less than a third of respondents saying that candidates are “well prepared” for the work.

Respondents agreed that the intern experience needs to be improved and that there should be regulatory and/or legislative efforts to make changes to the process. Also, the respondents believe that funeral directors tasked with training or mentoring interns should be certified or receive training themselves.

Benefits

The survey shows that 70 percent of funeral homes offer at least some of their employees health insurance. A total of 76 percent offer vacation or PTO; 76 percent also pay licensing fees and 74 percent pay for continuing education programs.

The full-time staff in 39 percent of funeral homes were eligible for health, dental, life and/or disability insurance. All staff members in another 15 percent were eligible for insurance, and licensed staff members were eligible in 12 percent.

A total of 56 percent of funeral firms surveyed contribute toward employee retirement in some form; 42 percent of funeral firms offer life insurance.

Other findings include:

• Of the 17 percent of respondents who post their General Price Lists on their websites, 79 percent have the GPL link on their home page.


• The average funeral firm employs between two and four full-time licensed funeral directors and between two and four part-time, non-licensed staff.


• The makeup of those full-time funeral directors is 55 percent male and 45 percent female.

About the Partnership

The partnership comprises five state funeral directors associations in the northeastern part of the United States. Formed in 2018, the partnership’s goal is to help the state associations jointly address matters such as legislation, cross-state sharing of services, regional seminars and professional development.

A total of 456 funeral homes participated in the survey, 31 percent of those were in New York, 22 percent were in Pennsylvania, 21 percent from Massachusetts, 16 percent from New Jersey and 10 percent from Connecticut.