But in return for generous support from the funeral industry, I can offer an A-list of big-spending friends who will most certainly need funeral-related services in the future.
Later, his father expanded into pre-need funeral insurance.
A trust it once managed — focused on "pre-need" funeral planning — declined sharply in value, prompting a handful of civil lawsuits alleging financial mismanagement.
3. Pre-need funeral bond -- Depending on the U.S. state (or country) you live in, you may be able to purchase a funeral bond.
SCI uses its size to cut costs and sell "pre-need" funerals that can be bought in one city and used in practically any other.
"I feel like she's the one who's big on 'You don't need a funeral director,' " she said.
A computerized system in discussion for six years would eliminate the need for funeral directors to track down harried doctors to sign the tens of thousands of forms a year, and then trudge into the city's one and only office for death certificates, in Manhattan, and wait for them to be approved by a clerk.
As Mr. Osekavage spoke, John Davis, a 25-year-old mortuary sciences student, approached the table where a police officer stood taking names and asked, "Is there a need for funeral directors?" "I'm sure there is," the officer said, and took his name.
The public need for funeral homes -- there are 19,680 in the U.S. today -- is relatively new.
You don't need a funeral home to hold a memorial service.
Mr. Recio, who was then retired and living off Social Security, had to borrow the $3,000 he needed for funeral costs from a man in Washington Heights.
