Rising death rate to affect funeral home industry

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Considering that the only certainties in life are death and taxes, it's not a bad idea to be in the funeral home business.|ret||ret||tab|

Death rates, which have hovered between 8.4 and 8.8 per 1,000 people since 1980, are expected to increase significantly as the population, specifically the baby boom generation, ages.|ret||ret||tab|

The National Center for Health Statistics projects that the death rate will top 9.3 per thousand by 2020, with the rate increasing to 9.9 in 2030 and 13.17 by 2060.|ret||ret||tab|

David Walkinshaw, a spokesperson for the National Funeral Directors Association, doesn't necessarily equate more business with bigger profits.|ret||ret||tab|

"A lot of people think there will be a big boom in the profit margin for funeral homes, but the likelihood is that that's not the case," said Walkinshaw, who's also a funeral director in Arlington, Mass. |ret||ret||tab|

"The profit margin has been dropping substantially over the last 20 years, going down year after year. An individual funeral director will service more families, but the profit margin will actually be smaller."|ret||ret||tab|

Much of the decrease in profits has been because of a trend away from traditional burials and elaborate services.|ret||ret||tab|

"(People) are choosing simpler services, alternative services and cremation rather than burial," Walkinshaw said. "All that affects the bottom line. We know at the time of death people will have to call a funeral home, but what they spend will be up to them, not the funeral home."|ret||ret||tab|

Cremation is one option that many are turning to. Of the 2.4 million deaths in 2000, 25 percent were cremated, according to the Cremation Association of North America. The percentage is expected to increase to 39.4 percent by 2010, and 48 percent by 2025.|ret||ret||tab|

For Jeff Hicks and Rusty Shadel, who recently purchased Thieme-Shadel-Hicks at Midtown and Thieme-Shadel-Hicks at Rivermonte, the future includes more personalization of services. |ret||ret||tab|

"One of the exciting things is the ability we give families to personalize the service to the unique characteristics of the individual we are celebrating the service for," said Hicks, who has 29 years' experience in the funeral home business. "We work real hard (to find) out what was special about the person and make those things part of the funeral service."|ret||ret||tab|

Hicks recalled a recent funeral that incorporated a grandmother's cookies.|ret||ret||tab|

"One of the things (the grandchildren) were going to miss most was her oatmeal-raisin cookies," Hicks said. "We were able to get grandma's recipe and we served grandma's oatmeal-raisin cookies at the conclusion of the funeral service, and we printed that recipe on the back of the folders everyone received. We celebrated that special aspect. That's a small thing, but is extremely important if that's your grandmother."|ret||ret||tab|

Prepaid funeral plans also have grown in popularity in the last few years, according to the National Funeral Directors Association. The association attributes it to an increased desire by people to ensure that an individual's preferences are met whether they involve church services or a simple memorial at the funeral home, open or closed casket, and burial or cremation.|ret||ret||tab|

"One of the greatest things for consumers is that, with the rising cost of everything, it gives the consumer an opportunity to lock in the cost and make selections ahead of time, and relieve the family of the burden of that at the time of need," Hicks said. "I've seen consumers who have had prearrangements over a number of years save $3,000 or $4,000."|ret||ret||tab|

Another service that Hicks' funeral homes offer is LifeGems. The process takes the carbon from a person's remains after cremation and turns it into a diamond.|ret||ret||tab|

"It's a fairly new thing, probably only around less than a year," Hicks said. "It becomes very personal and a family treasure."|ret||ret||tab|

A quarter-carat LifeGem diamond costs about $4,000, and a one-carat stone costs about $13,000.|ret||ret||tab|

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