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TheBuzz Erika Engle |
Distance mourning
via the Internet not
an option in HawaiiIt's not exactly the latest craze to sweep the nation, but webcasts of funerals are available in some mainland communities.
So, what about in Hawaii, farther removed from other land than any other spot on Earth?
Nope.
"It has been done for quite awhile in a number of cities across the U.S.," said Claus Hansen, co-owner of The Affordable Casket Co. LLC. "I go to conventions and there's always talk about this kind of thing."
To his knowledge no Hawaii funeral homes offer the service.
"In certain markets I think it's a very good and helpful thing for the family," Hansen said. "There's a million reasons why people might not be able to attend a funeral."
In such cases, "I think then it would be an appropriate one-way emotional connection," he said.
Funeral-streaming sites usually host an electronic guest-book mourners can sign and use to send a message of condolence to the family.
"There is an element of this concept being rather impersonal," Hansen said. "I don't really know if it would be a widespread popular way to do things."
The percentage of funeral homes offering Web-streamed services is "definitely single-digit, maybe even less than 1 percent," Hansen said. "This industry is very slow-moving. It does not jump into new fads very quickly."
He sees the service growing in the future because of the increasing numbers of computer-savvy people who are making funeral arrangements. "They know how to get information off the Internet, they're generally quite smart and they might want something like this, that's the reasoning."
Hansen's company is mulling it over.
If any Hawaii funeral home were to be first to offer the service, it would probably be Borthwick Mortuary, according to funeral arranger Jerry Andrade.
The company is owned by Texas-based Service Corp. International, which describes itself as the largest provider of funeral, mortuary and cremation services in North America.
Borthwick doesn't offer streaming of services on the Net, but it offers online memorials through Ohio-based Making Everlasting Memories LLC.
"If a family purchases that option, we put up photos of a loved one and a biography the family writes," Andrade said. The memorial can contain a slideshow of up to 20 captioned photos, and tributes contributed by loved ones that are approved by the family before being posted.
The site at www.mem.com has links for sending tributes, e-mailing a memorial link to others, sending flowers or gifts, charitable donations and grief support. The package is $295 and does not, um, expire.
Families that don't purchase the memorial can opt to post a photo and biography free for 90 days, Andrade said.
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Erika Engle is a reporter with the Star-Bulletin.
Call 529-4302, fax 529-4750 or write to Erika Engle,
Honolulu Star-Bulletin, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., No. 7-210,
Honolulu, HI 96813. She can also be reached
at: eengle@starbulletin.com