A High-Touch Profession Lawrence’s two revered funeral homes, with 220 years of service between them, have weathered the COVID-19 storm by staying true to their purpose and to the families they serve. by Bob Luder, photos by Steven Hertzog
The role of funeral director can be challenging, even during the most typical of times. It involves nearly daily interaction, counseling and planning with families going through one of the most difficult and heart-wrenching phases of life: grieving and coming to terms with the loss of a loved one. Oftentimes, family members come into a funeral home not knowing what to expect, what to ask for, what it is they want. Other times, there are disagreements within families about what arrangements they want. A good, capable funeral director aids these families by wearing a variety of proverbial hats—event planner, counselor, arbitrator and then some. Now throw in a global pandemic of a highly infectious and potentially deadly disease, one which has forced state governments to impose strict restrictions, banning large gatherings of people and setting forth guidelines for social distancing and mask wearing, and well, it makes the function of the funeral home all the more interesting. The novel coronavirus—officially tabbed COVID-19—has thrown Lawrence, the state, the country and the world into a tailspin, and like any other business, funeral homes have been affected.
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“It’s a difficult time already,” says Audrey Bell, funeral director at Warren-McElwain Mortuary & Cremation Services. “To put COVID-19 on top of that, it just adds to the difficulty. There are just a lot of what-ifs right now that make it all more difficult.”
