funeral consumers alliance of greater kansas city fca ... · barone, gary beemer, gary and carol...

12
Modern technologyCT scans, MRIs, rotating SPECT scanscan help physicians and medical students see things about the human body that were impossible just decades ago. But many practitioners, including Dr. Pam Thomas of the Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences and a 20-year board member of the FCA-GKC, believe that nothing can provide the indelible lessons that doctors learn from real bodiesdonated by people like you and me. “It’s about altruism,” Thomas said. “Think how many people are affected by the donation of just one body. It’s not just the students in the anatomy lab, but all the patients those students will ever see! Textbooks can only take a student so far, because every human looks Considering whole-body donation? Make your choices wisely By Lynn Anderson, Volunteer different on the inside. The normal human variations can’t be learned from models or computer programs.” As the KU Medical Center’s Willed Body Program views it, “Donors to our program become the young medical student’s first patients.” See Donation, page 10 Funeral prices rise in new FCA survey By Jim Fitzpatrick, FCA-GKC Treasurer After a relative lull, the prices for cremation, burial, and standard funerals are on the rise again. In this year’s funeral home price survey, the Funeral Consumers Alliance of Greater Kansas City found that the average price of a standard funeral in the Kansas City area has risen 4.0 percent since 2012. Consumers caught a break during 200912, when the average price of a standard funeral rose just 1.4 percent. But that was in the throes of the country’s worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. Now that the economy is recovering, funeral prices seem to be “recovering,” too. The average price for a standard funeral now is $6,623 plus cemetery costs. Jim Radovich, general manager of Charter Funerals, which has three homes in the Kansas City area and one in Lawrence, said he wasn’t surprised to see funeral homes “start raising their prices a little more now that the economy is coming back.” The 4.0 percent increase slightly outstripped the Midwestern Region consumer price index, which rose 3.1 percent between July 2012 and July 2014. Here are other key statistics from the new survey: The average cost for direct cremationthe least costly means of disposition of a bodywent up 3.6 percent from 2012, to $1,809. The average cost for immediate burial in a minimum casketthe most economical funeral leading to burialjumped by 14.2 percent, to $3,506. (The survey figures do not include cemetery See Survey, page 3 Dr. Pam Thomas teaches the anatomy of a human heart, thanks to the Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences’ Gift Body Program. As the national trend away from burial in favor of cremation continues to expand, so, too, do the methods by which it is accomplished. Area families may now arrange and pay for cremations with their computers without ever visiting a funeral home. And a new method being marketed elsewhere as “green cremation” is a highly accelerated version of the natural process found in body decomposition after death. This method involves a mixture of heat, pressure, alkali, and water. The Cremation Association of North America (CANA) reports the U.S. cremation rate for 2013 as 45.1 percent, with an average annual growth rate of 1.83 percent. The 2013 preliminary cremation rate for Kansas is 41.2 percent, and for Missouri it’s 38.8 percent (numbers from CANA to be confirmed later in the fall). By 2016, the cremation rate is expected to rise to almost 50 percent. With cremation’s lower cost and greater flexibility, more Americans are choosing cremation than ever before. In the Kansas City area, See Cremation options, page 11 Today’s cremation options: Fire, water, digital By Marci Michnick, FCA-GKC Vice President All the prices are on pages 69. Funeral Consumers Alliance of Greater Kansas City FCA REPORT © 2014 FCA-GKC C A - G K C F Fall 2014

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Page 1: Funeral Consumers Alliance of Greater Kansas City fca ... · Barone, Gary Beemer, Gary and Carol Bloomer, Marilyn Blunk, Tom Bowman, Lawrence Brett, Dale and Debra Bryan, Philip Calabrese,

2 | P a g e

Modern technology—CT scans,

MRIs, rotating SPECT scans—can help physicians and medical students see things about the human body that were impossible just decades ago. But many practitioners, including Dr. Pam Thomas of the Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences and a 20-year board member of the FCA-GKC, believe that nothing can provide the indelible lessons that doctors learn from real bodies—donated by people like you and me. “It’s about altruism,” Thomas said. “Think how many people are affected by the donation of just one body. It’s not just the students in the anatomy lab, but all the patients those students will ever see! Textbooks can only take a student so far, because every human looks

Considering whole-body donation? Make your choices wisely By Lynn Anderson, Volunteer

different on the inside. The normal human variations can’t be learned from models or computer programs.” As the KU Medical Center’s Willed Body Program views it, “Donors to our program become the young medical student’s first patients.”

See Donation, page 10

Dr. Pam Thomas teaches students about a human heart, thanks to the Gift Body Program at the Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences.

Funeral prices rise in new FCA survey By Jim Fitzpatrick, FCA-GKC Treasurer

After a relative lull, the prices for

cremation, burial, and standard funerals are on the rise again.

In this year’s funeral home price survey, the Funeral Consumers Alliance of Greater Kansas City found that the average price of a standard funeral in the Kansas City area has risen 4.0 percent since 2012.

Consumers caught a break during 2009–12, when the average price of a standard funeral rose just 1.4 percent. But that was in the throes of the country’s worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. Now that the economy is recovering, funeral prices seem to be “recovering,” too. The average price for a standard funeral now is $6,623 plus cemetery costs.

All the prices are on pages 6–9. Jim Radovich, general manager

of Charter Funerals, which has three homes in the Kansas City area and one in Lawrence, said he wasn’t surprised to see funeral homes “start raising their prices a little more now that the economy is coming back.”

The 4.0 percent increase slightly outstripped the Midwestern Region consumer price index, which rose 3.1 percent between July 2012 and July 2014.

Here are other key statistics from the new survey:

The average cost for direct cremation—the least costly means of disposition of a body—went up 3.6 percent from 2012, to $1,809.

The average cost for immediate burial in a minimum casket—the most economical funeral leading to burial—jumped by 14.2 percent, to $3,506. (The survey figures do not include cemetery

See Survey, page 3

Dr. Pam Thomas teaches the anatomy of a human heart, thanks to the Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences’ Gift Body Program.

FCA REPORT

Funeral Consumers Alliance of Greater Kansas City

Fall 2014

As the national trend away from burial in favor of cremation continues to expand, so, too, do the methods by which it is accomplished.

Area families may now arrange and pay for cremations with their computers without ever visiting a funeral home. And a new method being marketed elsewhere as “green cremation” is a highly accelerated version of the natural process found in body decomposition after death. This method involves a mixture of heat, pressure, alkali, and water.

The Cremation Association of

North America (CANA) reports the U.S. cremation rate for 2013 as 45.1 percent, with an average annual growth rate of 1.83 percent. The 2013 preliminary cremation rate for Kansas is 41.2 percent, and for Missouri it’s 38.8 percent (numbers from CANA to be confirmed later in the fall). By 2016, the cremation rate is expected to rise to almost 50 percent. With cremation’s lower cost and greater flexibility, more Americans are choosing cremation than ever before.

In the Kansas City area, See Cremation options, page 11

Today’s cremation options: Fire, water, digital By Marci Michnick, FCA-GKC Vice President

© 2014 FCA-GKC

All the prices are on pages 6–9.

Funeral Consumers Alliance of Greater Kansas City

fcareport© 2014

fca-GKc

CA-GKCFfall 2014

Page 2: Funeral Consumers Alliance of Greater Kansas City fca ... · Barone, Gary Beemer, Gary and Carol Bloomer, Marilyn Blunk, Tom Bowman, Lawrence Brett, Dale and Debra Bryan, Philip Calabrese,

Mistakes occur in all businesses. But when they happen in the funeral home business—and especially when they involve customer service—the results can be particularly painful. That was the case with an arrangement that a Kansas City man made with Reflections Memorial Service, 14 Westport Road, Kansas City—an arrangement the service botched. Reflections took over the space formerly occupied by Marts Memorial Services, which had its operating license revoked in 2011 for a variety of problems. Joshua Dukes, owner of Reflections, acknowledged in a telephone interview in June that he failed to follow through on an arrangement he had made with Robert Millikin, whose 57-year-old wife, Cynthia, died of lung cancer on June 1. The Funeral Consumers Alliance interviewed both Millikin, who owns a woodworking business, and Dukes. Here is how they describe what transpired: Millikin spoke with Dukes on the phone a few days before his wife died, making arrangements for Reflections to handle the transportation of his wife’s body, cremation, and preparation of death certificates. Saint Luke’s Hospice staff members were caring for Cynthia at the Millikin home in Kansas City, North. Cynthia died at 4:05 a.m. Sunday, June 1, at the home. The hospice worker who had been caring for Cynthia began attempting to call Dukes on his cell phone. She tried several times over the next four hours to reach Dukes, but was unsuccessful. In an email to the Funeral Consumers Alliance, Millikin wrote:

“While my three children and mother-in-law watched my wife’s body stiffen, I found myself at 8:15 on a Sunday morning trying to find another funeral home to deal with my wife’s body. I managed to locate another funeral home that came out within 45 minutes and took care of things.” In the interview with the FCA, Dukes said that between 11:00 p.m. on Saturdays and 7:00 a.m. on Sundays he forwards his calls to an answering service, which alerts him if he gets a call. Dukes said he apparently failed to program his phone properly, so calls that came in to him were not forwarded. Compounding the problem, Dukes said he had placed his phone in silent mode and that the hospice worker’s calls did not awaken him. After awakening Sunday morning and checking his phone, Dukes called the hospice worker and learned about Cynthia’s overnight death. Dukes said he called Millikin on Monday and left a short voice message apologizing for the mistake. Millikin, however, said he did not get a message from Dukes on Monday. Millikin said he understood how the telephone problem could have occurred, but that he found Reflections’ performance to be completely unsatisfactory. “I don’t think there’s any excuse for [the pre-arranged pickup and cremation] not happening the way we agreed,” Millikin said. Dukes said it was the first time anything like that had happened since he had opened the business, and he vowed that nothing similar would happen again. “It’s a tragic thing to have missed the call,” he said. “…You want to be there 100 percent of the time. Mistakes are very big when it comes to this industry.” ¤

Failed response leaves family floundering in time of grief By Jim Fitzpatrick, FCA-GKC Treasurer

‘Special edition’ strains our budget By Jim Fitzpatrick, FCA-GKC Treasurer

Day in and day out, we at the FCA-GKC are proud of the services we provide to consumers. But every two or three years, we are particularly proud when we produce our Funeral Home Price Survey.

That time has arrived again, and you will find the 2014 survey on pages 6–9. Four of us who worked on the survey easily put in more than 100 hours collectively. We have expanded this newsletter by four pages to accommodate the survey and all the other information reported by our volunteers. Look it over. Its quality speaks for itself.

As a result of the expansion, the cost to print and mail the newsletter is going to be about $1,500, instead of the usual $1,150. That means we need to ratchet up our fundraising effort, so I hope those of you who have contributed regularly will consider giving a little more this time. And for those who haven’t given in the past, come on in, the water’s warm and friendly! (We’re an all-volunteer organization and, of course, nonprofit.)

Now, here are the people—besides FCA board members—who have contributed since our spring newsletter:

Deborah Altus, Don and Janet Baken, Bill and Patti Bamman, Pat Barone, Gary Beemer, Gary and Carol Bloomer, Marilyn Blunk, Tom Bowman, Lawrence Brett, Dale and Debra Bryan, Philip Calabrese, Jack Chaffee, Gregory Davis, Don and Addie Dietrich, Sharon Dwyer, Clarence Edomondson Jr., Margie Eucalyptus, Kim Farmer, Ruth Gieschen, James and Janice Grebe, Ray and Kay Howa, Kermit Kearns, Gene Kirby, Andrew and Annella Kuhar, Mary Dorothy Mauer, Martha Melia, Sandra and Terry Myers, David Peery & Jan Cohen, Donald Puett, Joseph and Bonnie Richard, Antonette and John Thornton, Ivan Waite, Don and Carole Weissinger, Tom and Madelene Woodbury, and Doris Yonker.

Thank you! ¤

2 Funeral Consumers Alliance of Greater Kansas City

Fitzpatrick

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The big picture

By Nancy Jobe, FCA-GKC President

I am honored to lead a great group of dedicated volunteers.

The Funeral Home Price Survey Committee was busy over the summer gathering data for the survey, collecting general price lists from more than 90 funeral homes in Greater Kansas City. As you look over the data on pages 6–9, you can tell by its detail how thorough and precise these volunteers have been, bringing you the most up-to-date correct information so you can make informed decisions. Special thanks to Jim Fitzpatrick, Frank Cockrell, Lyle Van Vleet, and Steve Nicely.

The Development Committee has been researching grant opportunities and ways to develop the Funeral Consumers Alliance to serve the area even better. The FCA is always looking for new volunteers who can help with its outreach efforts. As an organization with a working board of eight, it’s difficult to accomplish everything we would like to. If you have a desire to speak to groups, hand out literature at senior fairs, or help on any of our committees, we will welcome you. If you are aware of small grants available for our organization, please share that information with us. You can reach Pam Thomas and me through the FCA email address and phone number on the back page of this newsletter.

The Outreach Committee has been developing new printed materials to share at presentations. The members have been receiving numerous calls for presentations to help people understand their rights and options in arranging funerals. Marci Michnick and I have also been planning our local chapter’s Annual Meeting. You can read about it on page 12. We hope

you like this year’s new meeting format, which is designed to share more information as you make choices about what you would like to learn. We look forward to seeing everyone at the meeting.

I had the pleasure of attending the Funeral Consumers Alliance National Conference in Minnesota this past June—and I was honored to be there as other affiliates gave accolades to the Greater Kansas City group for our outstanding newsletters and our ability to sustain our organization successfully over 50 years without a dues membership, but by grants and donations only. When we near the end of the year (and the end of our funds), we always seem to be blessed with donations to keep us going. Thanks so much for your support.

Finally, big thanks to you, our members and contributors, for helping us succeed in our mission: To educate and support individuals and families in making informed decisions about death-related services, consistent with their values and lifestyles. ¤

Join us!

Funeral Consumers Alliance of Greater

Kansas City 3

Survey, from page 1 costs, which are extra.)

The elements of a standard funeral include the basic services fee for overhead costs of a funeral home; embalming; transfer of the body to the funeral home; visitation and funeral at the funeral home; hearse and limo rental; and the lowest-price casket and grave liner offered.

With direct cremation increasing in popularity, fewer people are opting for full standard funerals, although the number of people who go that route remains significant.

In assembling this survey, we relied on general price lists (GPLs) that funeral homes are required by the Federal Trade Commission to provide to the public. We were able to obtain GPLs from 93 of the 94 homes we surveyed. The only home from which we could not obtain a GPL was Cedar Crest Memorial Chapel in De Soto, Kan. No. 1 SCI (McGilley) buys out No. 2 Stewart (Newcomer)

The most significant recent development in the local funeral home industry was one national funeral company’s takeover of another national company, which resulted in eight area funeral homes coming under new ownership.

Service Corp. International (SCI), of Houston, Texas, the largest funeral home operator in the nation, bought out Stewart Enterprises, the second-largest company. Before the acquisition early this year, SCI owned 11 area funeral homes, 10 of which had been part of the McGilley chain. Stewart owned eight funeral homes, all of which originally bore the Newcomer name.

To avoid SCI monopolies in certain parts of the area, the Federal Trade Commission ordered SCI to sell three properties: Mount Moriah Terrace Park Funeral Home and Cemetery in the Northland, the Newcomer Johnson County Funeral Chapel and Memorial Gardens, and the Newcomer Overland Park Chapel.

Separately, SCI decided to sell

See Survey, page 4

the Newcomer Longview Funeral

From the amount of information presented on the four pages (6-9) of our 2014 Funeral Home Survey, I’m sure you can see that a lot of work goes into assembling the survey every two or three years.

In 2012 and again this year, our intrepid team of surveyors consisted of Steve Nicely, Frank Cockrell, Lyle Van Vleet, and me. For all the work—hundreds of hours collectively—we have a good time, and we always encounter some interesting and sticky problems.

The most fundamental and important task is to collect the General Prices Lists (GPLs) that all funeral homes are required by federal law to provide upon request.

From the GPLs, we cull the prices for the categories we use in our survey. We enter those numbers in computer files and forward them to Lyle, who reenters them into the charts you see in this newsletter.

Here are a few examples of problems we encountered this year and how we handled them. Running up the odometer

Although federal law requires funeral homes to have a General Price List to hand out, there’s a catch: They only have to provide it if someone shows up at the funeral home and requests it in person.

When we embark on a new survey, we write to the funeral homes, asking them to mail us their GPLs. Although we include self-addressed, stamped envel-opes, there are always a few dozen homes that do not return them. That’s when we have to get on our horses and ride.

I spent several hours one day driving around the Northland to get price lists for the Polley Funeral Home and the Hixson-Klein Funeral Home.

A few weeks after our letter went out, I spoke with Hixson-

Klein owner Jack Klein, asking him to mail me a GPL. He declined, saying, “You can come and get one.”

The address we had for the funeral home was in Smithville, so I drove the 27 miles from my house to Smithville. When I arrived at the address, however, I found a storefront office that was closed. A sign on the door directed customers to call a number for information. I called the number and learned that the home office is in Gower, 17 miles north of Smithville. So I drove to Gower and retrieved the GPL.

From there I drove 42 miles southeast to Excelsior Springs, where I picked up the Polley Funeral Home price list. Then it was another 40 miles back home.

In all, I drove more than 125 miles—about halfway to St. Louis—for two price lists.

Handling challenges

We verify the information we receive from all 94 funeral home and cremation service providers by emailing a draft of the survey for review. This gives each provider a chance to look at competitors’ prices as well as their own. Sometimes they question the accuracy of information submitted by the competition. This sends us back to double-check the challenged numbers.

Such was the case when Kathleen Baska, of the Mary Butler Meyers Funeral Home in Kansas City, Kan., questioned the listed prices of two competitors,

Survey compilers, from left: Jim Fitzpatrick, committee chair; Lyle Van Vleet, Frank Cockrell, Steve Nicely.

Survey production: An exercise in patience and perseverance By Jim Fitzpatrick, FCA-GKC Treasurer

Funeral Consumers Alliance of Greater Kansas City 5

Highland Park and The Cremation Center of Kansas City. Steve checked those and concluded his response to Kathleen this way: “Hate to say it, but your listing seems more confusing and incomplete than the other two.” She took the opportunity to clarify her price list, which had not been updated since January 2010.

Frank encountered a similar “whistleblowing” situation when Bart Yost, of Rumsey-Yost Funeral Home in Lawrence, challenged the claim by a competitor, Warren-McElwain Mortuaries in Lawrence and Eudora, that they were “locally owned and operated.” Frank found that the mortuaries had in fact been sold to Caring Funeral Service, Inc., a California holding company of multiple funeral homes in that state. Whether a provider is locally owned or owned by a corporation makes a difference to some families. Frank decided to keep the “local” designation when he learned that the new owner, Jim Larkin, is selling his California properties and moving back to his hometown of Lawrence to operate his new acquisitions. Frank intends to remain vigilant to see whether those plans materialize.

The Amos Family Inc. funeral home in Shawnee provides the most confusing price list we’ve ever seen. If we can’t figure it out, how can an average person? So we got the prices we needed for our survey from funeral director Jeff Kilgore. We hope Amos will be clarifying its pricing soon.

As always, our goal is to provide consumers with a clear and complete picture of the funeral industry in our area. Please call the survey to the attention of friends and relatives. ¤

Jim Fitzpatrick is Treasurer and member of the board of the FCA-GKC.

3

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4 Funeral Consumers Alliance of Greater Kansas City

Survey, from page 3 the Newcomer Longview Funeral Home. A company called The Signature Group, based in Albuquerque, N.M., bought the four that SCI put up for sale.

The former Newcomer properties that SCI now owns are Church-Archer-Pasley Funeral Home, Floral Hills Funeral Home & Cemetery, Floral Hills East Cemetery, Noland Road Chapel, Stine & McClure Chapel, Oak Lawn Memorial Gardens, Shawnee Mission Memory Gardens, and White Chapel Funeral Home and Cemetery. SCI has eight properties that bear the McGilley name and two other properties that do not bear the McGilley Name: Chapel Hill-Butler Funeral Home & Memorial Gardens, and Mount Moriah & Freeman Funeral Home & Cemetery South.

The Newcomer name is officially gone. Mark McGilley, a longtime funeral home director, is SCI’s

market manager in the Kansas City area.

Even though SCI’s expansion means less competition in the Kansas City area market, SCI did not raise standard-funeral prices at all of its 15 funeral chapels included in the survey. It raised prices at 10 chapels, and reduced them by double-digit percentages at five, including the four homes it acquired from Stewart.

SCI’s prices generally run higher, in many cases significantly higher, than prices at locally owned funeral homes.

Radovich, of Charter Funerals, marveled at the great variance in prices that area funeral homes charge, particularly at the upper end.

“Some of the upper-end numbers … I don’t see how they can go much higher,” he said, referring primarily to the SCI properties.

A 261% price increase The most striking overall

price change occurred as a direct result of the SCI expansion.

When it was part of the Newcomer/Stewart chain, the Stine & McClure Chapel in Kansas City offered direct cremation at a price of $675. The aim was to offer a low-priced cremation service to the midtown market after another low-cost provider, Marts Memorial Services, went out of business in Westport. Reflections Memorial Service later took over the Marts location and now offers direct cremation for $625.

SCI wasted little time in dumping Stine & McClure’s bargain-basement price and raising it to $2,440. Same service, same result: ashes returned to the family in a minimal container. But more than three times as costly. ¤

‘Before I Go’ kits help with planning

We still have a supply of “Before I Go, You Should Know” planning kits, which are great repositories for all the information needed to make survivors’ lives easier when a loved one dies. The kit is a comprehensive guide to end-of-life planning, with more than 30 pages in which to record everything from your burial or cremation preference to how to close down your social media and online accounts.

The kit offers advice on things as routine as obituary preparation and as non-routine as full-body donation. To order kits, send a check, $15 per kit, to P.O. Box 7021, Kansas City, MO 64113. Make checks out to “Funeral Consumers Alliance of GKC.”

If you have questions, call us at (816) 561-6322. Leave a message and we will get back with you.

Preplan, but don’t prepay

Funeral homes like to see families arriving ahead of time to plan funerals, and FCA does, too. But the funeral home will try to sell a prepaid plan, and we advise against it. Preplan, we say, but don't prepay.

Prepaid contracts can be restrictive and can make you vulnerable. What if you move? What if you change your mind? What if the funeral home is sold or goes out of business? What if you can’t make the payments? What if someone raids your account? All those things have happened in our community. We suggest opening a bank or credit union savings account jointly with a trusted friend or relative who knows your wishes. Mark your calendars! FCA-GKC Annual Meeting Nov. 14, 1:30–4:30 p.m.

Presentations available

Would your organization benefit from an unbiased presentation about important practical aspects of funeral planning? Contact FCA-GKC by calling (816) 561-6322 or emailing [email protected]. We’ll line you up with one of our members for a visit.

FCA-GKC Board of Directors Officers President: Nancy Jobe Vice President: Marci Michnick, MSW, LMSW Secretary: Pam Thomas, PhD Treasurer: Jim Fitzpatrick

Members G. Frank Cockrell Sally King, MSW, LCSW Steve Nicely Lyle Van Vleet

Page 5: Funeral Consumers Alliance of Greater Kansas City fca ... · Barone, Gary Beemer, Gary and Carol Bloomer, Marilyn Blunk, Tom Bowman, Lawrence Brett, Dale and Debra Bryan, Philip Calabrese,

From the amount of information presented on the four pages (6-9) of our 2014 Funeral Home Survey, I’m sure you can see that a lot of work goes into assembling the survey every two or three years.

In 2012 and again this year, our intrepid team of surveyors consisted of Steve Nicely, Frank Cockrell, Lyle Van Vleet, and me. For all the work—hundreds of hours collectively—we have a good time, and we always encounter some interesting and sticky problems.

The most fundamental and important task is to collect the General Prices Lists (GPLs) that all funeral homes are required by federal law to provide upon request.

From the GPLs, we cull the prices for the categories we use in our survey. We enter those numbers in computer files and forward them to Lyle, who reenters them into the charts you see in this newsletter.

Here are a few examples of problems we encountered this year and how we handled them. Running up the odometer

Although federal law requires funeral homes to have a General Price List to hand out, there’s a catch: They only have to provide it if someone shows up at the funeral home and requests it in person.

When we embark on a new survey, we write to the funeral homes, asking them to mail us their GPLs. Although we include self-addressed, stamped envel-opes, there are always a few dozen homes that do not return them. That’s when we have to get on our horses and ride.

I spent several hours one day driving around the Northland to get price lists for the Polley Funeral Home and the Hixson-Klein Funeral Home.

A few weeks after our letter went out, I spoke with Hixson-

Klein owner Jack Klein, asking him to mail me a GPL. He declined, saying, “You can come and get one.”

The address we had for the funeral home was in Smithville, so I drove the 27 miles from my house to Smithville. When I arrived at the address, however, I found a storefront office that was closed. A sign on the door directed customers to call a number for information. I called the number and learned that the home office is in Gower, 17 miles north of Smithville. So I drove to Gower and retrieved the GPL.

From there I drove 42 miles southeast to Excelsior Springs, where I picked up the Polley Funeral Home price list. Then it was another 40 miles back home.

In all, I drove more than 125 miles—about halfway to St. Louis—for two price lists.

Handling challenges

We verify the information we receive from all 94 funeral home and cremation service providers by emailing a draft of the survey for review. This gives each provider a chance to look at competitors’ prices as well as their own. Sometimes they question the accuracy of information submitted by the competition. This sends us back to double-check the challenged numbers.

Such was the case when Kathleen Baska, of the Mary Butler Meyers Funeral Home in Kansas City, Kan., questioned the listed prices of two competitors,

Survey compilers, from left: Jim Fitzpatrick, committee chair; Lyle Van Vleet, Frank Cockrell, Steve Nicely.

Survey production: An exercise in patience and perseverance By Jim Fitzpatrick, FCA-GKC Treasurer

Funeral Consumers Alliance of Greater Kansas City 5

Highland Park and The Cremation Center of Kansas City. Steve checked those and concluded his response to Kathleen this way: “Hate to say it, but your listing seems more confusing and incomplete than the other two.” She took the opportunity to clarify her price list, which had not been updated since January 2010.

Frank encountered a similar “whistleblowing” situation when Bart Yost, of Rumsey-Yost Funeral Home in Lawrence, challenged the claim by a competitor, Warren-McElwain Mortuaries in Lawrence and Eudora, that they were “locally owned and operated.” Frank found that the mortuaries had in fact been sold to Caring Funeral Service, Inc., a California holding company of multiple funeral homes in that state. Whether a provider is locally owned or owned by a corporation makes a difference to some families. Frank decided to keep the “local” designation when he learned that the new owner, Jim Larkin, is selling his California properties and moving back to his hometown of Lawrence to operate his new acquisitions. Frank intends to remain vigilant to see whether those plans materialize.

The Amos Family Inc. funeral home in Shawnee provides the most confusing price list we’ve ever seen. If we can’t figure it out, how can an average person? So we got the prices we needed for our survey from funeral director Jeff Kilgore. We hope Amos will be clarifying its pricing soon.

As always, our goal is to provide consumers with a clear and complete picture of the funeral industry in our area. Please call the survey to the attention of friends and relatives. ¤

Jim Fitzpatrick is Treasurer and member of the board of the FCA-GKC.

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6 Funeral Consumers Alliance of Greater Kansas City

*

Funeral Consumers Alliance

of Greater Kansas City2014 Area Survey of Funeral Home Prices

All prices were taken from the General Price Lists (GPLs) that funeral homes are required

by the Federal Trade Commission to provide to consumers. Immediate burial and standard

funeral prices include lowest-priced casket and grave liners offered. Direct cremation

includes alternate container, such as cardboard or fiberboard. (Cemetery costs are separate

and not part of this survey.) Note: The first three columns, starting with Direct Cremation,

represent the most fundamental options; the last three columns compare current standard funeral prices with 2012.

* * * 2 0 1 4 * * * Standard FuneralsLine Direct Immediate Standard 2012 2014 Less 2012-14

# Funeral Home (Ownership) Cremation Burial Funeral Totals 2012 Change

Totals Difference %1 Alden-Harrington Funeral Home (Local) 1,988 3,632 6,995 7,160 (165) (2.3)

2 The Amos Family Funeral Home (Local) 2,170 4,109 6,961 6,548 413 6.3

3 Ara Cremation (Local) 1,080 n/a * **

4 Assurance Cremation Society (local) 1,495 n/a * **

5 Belden-Larkin Funeral Home (Local) 2,915 4,265 6,845 6,605 240 3.6

6 Bross & Spidle Funeral Hm & Crem Serv (Local) 1,075 3,345 6,530 5,830 700 12.0

7-8 Bruce Funeral Homes (Local) 2,825 3,445 6,685 6,310 375 5.9

9 Carson-Speaks Chapel (Local) 2,890 3,090 7,275 6,255 1,020 16.3

10 Cashatt Family Funerals (Local) 600 1,995 5,460 *

11 Cedar Crest Mem Chapel (Local) Declined to provide GPL **

12 Chapel Hill-Butler Funeral Home (SCI) 2,640 4,690 6,855 6,405 450 7.0

13 Chapel Oaks Cremation & Funeral Serv (Local) 1,400 3,315 4,820 *

14 Chapel of Memories Funeral Home (Local) 1,695 2,250 7,514 7,239 275 3.8

15 Charter Funerals - Leavenworth (Local) 1,195 2,920 5,320 5,320 0 0.0

16-18 Charter Funerals (Local) 1,225 2,770 5,750 5,320 430 8.1

19 Church-Archer-Pasley Funeral Home (SCI) 2,640 5,390 8,055 9,440 (1,385) (14.7)

20 Church Funeral Associates (Local) 1,200 2,095 5,075 3,790 1,285 33.9

21 Cremation Center of Kansas City (Local) 895 n/a * *

22-23 Cremation Society of KS & MO (Local) 1,095 n/a * *

24 Cullen Funeral Home (Local) 2,235 3,400 5,840 5,645 195 3.5

25 Davis Funeral Chapel (Local) 1,975 4,000 5,870 5,395 475 8.8

26 Duane E. Harvey Funeral Directors (Local) 1,570 1,945 5,915 5,430 485 8.9

27 Eley & Sons Funeral Chapel (Local) 975 1,670 5,410 5,560 (150) (2.7)

28 Elite Funeral Chapel (Local) 995 n/a * 5,600

29 Floral Hills Funeral Home (SCI) 2,640 5,390 8,055 9,440 (1,385) (14.7)

30 Fry-Bross & Spidle Funeral H & Crem Srv (Local) 1,075 3,345 6,530 5,830 700 12.0

31 Funeral Center KC.com (Local) 1,620 n/a 5,981 5,981 0 0.0

32 George F. Porter & Sons Funeral Home (Local) 1,997 3,092 5,739 5,752 (13) (0.2)

33-34 Heartland Crem & Burial Society-KS/MO (Local) 1,045 2,040 4,900 4,900 0 0.0

35 Hidden Valley Funeral Home (Local) 995 2,690 5,555 5,625 (70) (1.2)

36 Highland Park Funeral Hm & Crematory (Local) 1,555 2,155 5,135 4,930 205 4.2

37 Hixson-Klein Funeral Home (Local) 1,695 n/a 5,985 6,085 (100) (1.6)

38 Johnson County Funeral Chapel (Signature) 2,580 5,390 9,805 9,440 365 3.9

39 Joseph A Butler & Son Funeral Home (Local) 1,140 3,885 6,000 5,950 50 0.8

40 Kansas City Funeral Directors (Local) 750 2,140 4,600 3,805 795 20.9

41 Langsford Funeral Home (Local) 2,290 n/a 7,815 7,395 420 5.7

42-43 Lawrence A. Jones & Sons Funeral Chpl (Local) 1,270 2,690 6,345 5,804 541 9.3

44 Longview Funeral Hm & Cemetery (Signature) 2,580 4,990 9,305 9,440 (135) (1.4)

45 Louis Memorial Chapel (Local) 2,608 5,642 8,232 7,526 706 9.446 Maple Hill Funeral Hm & Cemetery (Local) 1,610 2,655 5,930 5,680 250 4.4

www.funeralskc.org

Page 7: Funeral Consumers Alliance of Greater Kansas City fca ... · Barone, Gary Beemer, Gary and Carol Bloomer, Marilyn Blunk, Tom Bowman, Lawrence Brett, Dale and Debra Bryan, Philip Calabrese,

Area Funeral Home Prices (continued)* * * 2 0 1 4 * * * Standard Funerals

Line Direct Immediate Standard 2012 2014 Less 2012-14# Funeral Home (Ownership) Cremation Burial Funeral Totals 2012 % Change

47 Mary Butler Meyers Funeral Home (Local) 1,410 3,230 6,830 6,663 167 2.5

48 McGilley Antioch Chapel (SCI) 2,640 5,390 8,055 7,605 450 5.9

49 McGilley & Frye Funeral Hm & Crem (SCI) 2,640 5,390 7,455 7,105 350 4.9

50-51 McGilley & George Funeral Hm & Crem (SCI) 2,340 4,690 6,740 6,405 335 5.2

52 McGilley & Hoge Jo Co Mem'l Chapel (SCI) 2,540 4,690 6,740 7,605 (865) (11.4)

53 McGilley Memorial Chapel (SCI) 2,540 4,690 8,540 8,190 350 4.3

54 McGilley Midtown Chapel (SCI) 2,440 4,690 6,855 6,405 450 7.0

55 McGilley & Sheil Funeral Hm & Crem(SCI) 2,540 4,690 7,340 7,105 235 3.3

56 Meyers Funeral Chapel - Blue Springs (Local) 1,895 3,875 7,265 6,455 810 12.5

57 Meyers Funeral Chapel - Northland (Local) 1,995 3,875 7,265 6,455 810 12.5

58 Mid States Cremation (Local) 695 n/a * **

59 Mount Moriah & Freeman Funeral Hm (SCI) 2,640 5,390 8,655 8,190 465 5.7

60 Mrs. J.W. Jones Memorial Chapel (Local) 1,945 1,945 5,915 5,290 625 11.8

61 Muehlebach Funeral Care (Local) 2,500 3,720 7,595 7,595 0 0.0

62 Neptune Society (Local) 1,997 n/a * *

63 New Salem Funeral Home (Local) 1,200 5,115 6,330 6,130 200 3.3

64 Noland Road Chapel (SCI) 2,640 5,390 7,455 9,440 (1,985) (21.0)

65 Northern Star Mortuary (Local) n/a 2,265 7,050 *

66 Overland Park Funeral Chapel (Signature) 2,580 5,390 9,805 9,440 365 3.9

67-69 Park Lawn Funeral Homes (Local) 1,295 n/a 5,875 5,775 100 1.7

70 Passantino Bros. Funeral Home (Local) 1,590 1,890 4,615 4,615 0 0.0

71 Penwell-Gabel Funeral Hm & Crematory (Local) 2,820 2,545 6,730 6,495 235 3.6

72 Polley Funeral Homes (Local) 2,870 4,195 * *

73 Porter Funeral Home & Crematory (Local) 1,997 3,288 6,514 6,054 460 7.6

74 Quisenberry Funeral Home (Local) 2,575 2,900 6,045 6,045 0 0.0

75 R.L. Leintz Funeral Home (Local) 2,300 2,900 5,350 5,150 200 3.9

76 Ralph O. Jones Funeral Home (Local) 1,915 3,618 5,429 **

77 Reflections Memorial Service (Local) 625 n/a 6,015 5,865 150 2.6

78-80 Royer Funeral Homes (Local) 990 2,993 5,785 **

81 Rumsey-Yost Funeral Hm & Crematory (Local) 1,895 2,702 5,800 5,800 0 0.0

82 Sebbeto Funeral Home Inc. (Local) 1,175 2,845 6,065 5,690 375 6.6

83 Signature Funerals (Local) 995 3,335 7,685 6,900 785 11.4

84 Skradski Funeral Chapel (Local) 2,450 1,900 5,310 4,950 360 7.3

85 Slider Funeral Home (Local) 900 1,447 5,470 4,964 506 10.2

86 Souder Family Funeral Home (Local) 1,595 3,290 6,615 6,555 60 0.9

87-88 Speaks Chapels (Local) 2,890 3,090 7,275 6,255 1,020 16.3

89 Stine & McClure Chapel (SCI) 2,440 5,390 8,655 7,880 775 9.8

90 Terrace Park Funeral Hm & Cem (Signature) 2,580 5,060 9,105 8,190 915 11.2

91 Thatcher’s Funeral Home (Local) 995 2,076 5,911 5,441 470 8.6

92-93 Warren-McElwain Mortuary (Local) 1,875 4,482 7,605 7,605 0 0.0

94 Watkins Heritage Chapel (Local) 1,270 2,690 6,845 5,294 1,551 29.395 White Chapel Funeral Home (SCI) 2,640 5,390 8,055 9,400 (1,345) (14.3)

2014 Average 1,809 3,506 6,623 6,368Count 93 79 85 80

2012 Average *** 1,746 3,069 6,368

2014 Less 2012 – Difference 63 437 255 Version – PUB-1 - 140923

% Change 3.6% 14.2% 4.0%

* Comparable total cannot be displayed when some prices are missing. ** No previous year data.

SCI = Service Corp. International, Inc., a publicly traded company based in Houston. *** 2012 Version - 7/26/2012;

Signature = A private company based in Albuquerque. Update - 5/2/2013

www.funeralskc.org

Funeral Consumers Alliance of Greater Kansas City 7

Page 8: Funeral Consumers Alliance of Greater Kansas City fca ... · Barone, Gary Beemer, Gary and Carol Bloomer, Marilyn Blunk, Tom Bowman, Lawrence Brett, Dale and Debra Bryan, Philip Calabrese,

8 Funeral Consumers Alliance of Greater Kansas City

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lskc

.org

Page 9: Funeral Consumers Alliance of Greater Kansas City fca ... · Barone, Gary Beemer, Gary and Carol Bloomer, Marilyn Blunk, Tom Bowman, Lawrence Brett, Dale and Debra Bryan, Philip Calabrese,

Funeral Consumers Alliance of Greater Kansas City 9

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Page 10: Funeral Consumers Alliance of Greater Kansas City fca ... · Barone, Gary Beemer, Gary and Carol Bloomer, Marilyn Blunk, Tom Bowman, Lawrence Brett, Dale and Debra Bryan, Philip Calabrese,

done right,” said Thomas. “Academic institutions have a whole lot of oversight. I personally visit and assess every facility that might use ‘our’ bodies. I feel personally responsible for those bodies.” The bottom line is this: Most donors and their families expect that their bodies will be in the anatomy labs of medical schools, training the next generations of physicians. With medical schools, this is much more likely to be true. In addition, medical school donation programs are staffed by informed professionals who are happy to discuss all your questions at every phase of the donation process. Medical schools also insist on respect for donors—from staff who handle the bodies, anatomy faculty, and students at all levels. Medical schools require anatomy labs to be conducted in an atmosphere that honors donors and their loved ones at every step, from day one in the lab to a memorial service when the year of study ends. But for-profit brokers have been implicated in the trafficking of human remains. Donation to a local or nationally respected other medical school program can bring peace of mind and the conviction that your wishes will be carried out with respect. ¤

Donation, from page 1 By now, most of us know about the option of donating a whole body for medical research and education. But if you or a loved one are considering such a donation, do it with care. What we don’t know In body donation, it’s important to understand the role of oversight. Until relatively recently, only medical schools accepted whole bodies for donation, and they ensured oversight through rigorous processes of screening, training, and tracking. They treated bodies with great respect and used them only for teaching and research. Says Thomas, director of the Gift Body Program at KCUMB, “Oversight is everything.” Nowadays, though, many for-profit companies are springing up throughout the world. And horrific forms of wrongdoing have been traced to some of these programs, including the lucrative practice of selling human tissue and the use of that tissue for purposes the donor might not have imagined. Perhaps you thought this was illegal. In fact, body donation is not regulated through licensure and inspection by the federal government and most states. Through the 50-year-old Uniform Anatomical Gift Act, it is illegal to sell body parts in the United States. Some systems of accreditation exist, as well, through such entities as the American Association of Tissue Banks and the American Medical Education and Research Association. Still, whole-body donation and non-transplant tissue banking as a whole have very little regulation and oversight. Furthermore, current law allows for-profit companies to charge fees for the “collection and processing” of human tissue. Many who study and teach anatomy are referring to these companies as “body brokers.” You could donate your body to such a company, which could parcel it out, for a fee, to researchers and practitioners in a myriad of fields having nothing to do with medical research—to plastic surgeons for enlarging penises, to cosmetics companies for testing the latest age-defying makeup, to auto engineers for crash testing. Perhaps you would willingly allow all these uses. The issue is that many people would not,

and they would never know. An even more egregious situation occurs when complete lack of oversight results in abuse of human tissue. Human body parts have shown up in storage lockers and at medical waste facilities, for instance, through lack of oversight or complete disregard of established guidelines. The for-profit companies include Science Care, National Body, MedCure, the Living Bank, and The Genesis Program, which supports the Medical Education & Research Institute. Countless others exist. You can locate them through Web searches. What you won’t know is whether they are reputable. There are endless loopholes and there is rampant misuse of the system. So it’s up to the donors to make their decisions with care. Choose a local program Pam Thomas, who holds a PhD in anatomy and is president of the Missouri State Anatomical Board, has been with KCUMB since 1994 and has directed its gift body program since then. She believes deeply in the wisdom of donating to a medical school, preferably a local one. The Gift Body Program at KCUMB currently needs about 40 cadavers each year for its anatomy labs. The program has a robust list of more than 700 prospective donors who already have filled out the requisite forms and whose bodies may be acquired and processed quickly and efficiently upon death. Almost all bodies donated to KCUMB are used on site, but donations to the university are sometimes shared with UMKC and Missouri Southern State University, which have more limited resources. To Thomas, this much is clear: Body donation should be consent-based—meaning that donors and their loved ones should understand every use to which a body may be put. And making the donation through KCUMB or another medical school is the surest way. “If you donate through a medical school, you know that things will be

10 Funeral Consumers Alliance of Greater Kansas City

Anatomy models are important teaching tools, but they can’t compare to working with real bodies. Consider a gift-body donation through a medical school.

GIFT-BODY RESOURCES Comparison document. FCA-GKC board member Frank Cockrell has produced a comparison of willed body programs in Missouri and Kansas, with information about program criteria. Visit www.funeralskc.org. KU and KCUMB are the only medical schools in the Kansas City area with willed body programs. University of Kansas Medical Center Willed Body Program. Call (913) 588-2735 or visit www.kumc.edu/school-of-medicine/anatomy-and-cell-biology/willed-body-program.html. Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences Gift Body Program. Call (816) 654-7533 or (800) 234-4847 toll-free, email [email protected], or visit www.kcumb.edu/departments/programs-centers/gift-body-program.

Page 11: Funeral Consumers Alliance of Greater Kansas City fca ... · Barone, Gary Beemer, Gary and Carol Bloomer, Marilyn Blunk, Tom Bowman, Lawrence Brett, Dale and Debra Bryan, Philip Calabrese,

Cremation options from page 1

cremation-only businesses are beginning to proliferate. Among the more recent entrants to the cremation market are Ara Cremation, Assurance Cremation Society, Mid States Cremation, and the Neptune Society.

Modern technology now affects how cremation arrangements are made. Through Mid States Cremation, a Shawnee company, a direct cremation can be arranged online and paid for using a credit card or a PayPal account. The cost for a direct cremation is $695, with transportation included from two Kansas counties (Johnson and Wyandotte) and three Missouri counties (Clay, Jackson, and Platte). All other counties in Kansas and Missouri have an additional transportation fee.

Mid States has offered online cremation arrangements since 2012. Director Ryan Wiseman reports that a few hundred families have been served in this way and every month the demand is increasing. Wiseman was motivated to offer an online model after learning that providers in other states were offering something similar. With the option to purchase just about anything online, it was a natural progression. Wiseman also points out that some people don’t want to go into a funeral home; they simply prefer to make arrangements from the comfort of their own home.

Mid States is an affiliate of Porter Funeral Home and Crematory. Another Porter affiliate is the Cremation Society of Kansas and Missouri, with storefront locations in Prairie Village and Kansas City, offering direct cremation for $1,095. And the price for a direct cremation at the Porter Funeral Home is $1,997. Three affiliated providers, three prices for the same service, with all cremations conducted at Porter’s crematorium

in Lenexa. The Amos Family Funeral Home

in Shawnee also has an online affiliate, FuneralCenter KC.com, and a storefront—the Cremation Center of Kansas City—in Mission. The Internet price for a direct cremation is $1,620, while the Mission storefront price is $895. The direct cremation price at Amos’ Shawnee funeral home is $2,170. Again, three affiliated providers and three prices for the same service, with all cremations handled at the Amos crematorium in Shawnee.

Heartland Cremation has offered an online process since 2004, said Heartland’s president, Andrew Loos. A direct cremation through Heartland costs $1,045, regardless of whether you make arrangements online or visit the funeral home in person. Loos said that about 15 percent of families make arrangements completely online for a direct cremation. The remainder engage the staff by phone or visit the funeral home during the process. ‘Green cremation’

Alkaline hydrolysis is an alternative form of disposition that is gaining ground in the United States but is not now available in Kansas or Missouri. In 2011, language defining cremation was amended in the State of Kansas to include alkaline hydrolysis as a form of cremation.

Used by the University of Florida in Gainesville since 1995 and by Mayo Clinic since 2006, alkaline hydrolysis is a hydro-chemical process that uses water, an alkali solution of potassium hydroxide, heat, and pressure to reduce a human body to bone fragments and a sterile liquid.

The body is placed in a stainless steel cylinder with water and potassium hydroxide. The solution is heated to 350 degrees under high pressure. In two to three hours, the

Funeral Consumers Alliance of Greater Kansas City 11

The alkaline hydrolysis machine at Bradshaw Funerals in Minnesota.

body is dissolved into a sterile liquid, or effluent, and bone fragments. The effluent is drained into the local municipal sewage system. Then, similar to cremation, the remaining bone fragments are processed and returned to family.

Other terms for alkaline hydrolysis are “green cremation,” “bio cremation,” “aquamation,” “resomation,” and “flameless cremation.”

For those who are concerned about reducing their carbon footprint, alkaline hydrolysis has benefits over flame-based cremation. The process is free of mercury emissions and it consumes eight times less energy than flame-based cremation.

Bradshaw Funerals in Minnesota has offered alkaline hydrolysis since 2012. Bradshaw charges the same price for green cremation as flame-based cremation, and found that 80 percent of its customers have chosen green cremation.

Loos thinks it’s inevitable that alkaline hydrolysis will become more available and would like Heartland to offer this process to customers, as he believes it is safer and more environmentally friendly.

Wiseman, of Mid States Cremation, isn’t sold on the method. He doesn’t believe consumers are completely sold on it yet, either. However, Wiseman said that “If alkaline hydrolysis proves to be a safer option and families express an interest in it, we would consider offering it.” ¤

Page 12: Funeral Consumers Alliance of Greater Kansas City fca ... · Barone, Gary Beemer, Gary and Carol Bloomer, Marilyn Blunk, Tom Bowman, Lawrence Brett, Dale and Debra Bryan, Philip Calabrese,

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Funeral Consumers Alliance of Greater Kansas City PO Box 7012 Kansas City, MO 64113

(816) 561-6322 [email protected] www.funeralskc.org

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More about whole body donation on our website

A collection of questions and answers regarding whole-body donation at the Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences (and applicable most other medical schools) is available on the FCA-GKC website. Visit www.funeralskc.org.

Truth be told at FCA-GKC annual meeting Nov. 14 By Marci Michnick, LMSW, FCA-GKC Vice President

A group of experts will hold court on the afternoon of Friday, Nov. 14, at the annual meeting of the Funeral Consumers Alliance of Greater Kansas City. Expect them to speak truth and debunk falsehood about body donations, death cafes, natural burial, home funerals, and advance care planning. The truth speaking will happen 1:30 to 4:30 p.m. at the Kauffman Conference Center, 4801 Rockhill Road, Kansas City (south of the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art).

Open to the public and free of charge, the meeting will feature four breakout sessions. The Death Café and Advance Care Planning sessions will be presented twice. Contact hours will be available for social workers, and preregistration is not necessary. Breakout sessions:

▪ What the heck is a Death Café? A Death Café is a group-directed discussion about death, with no agenda, objectives, or theme. Based on a model developed in Europe, a death café intends to increase awareness of death, helping people make the most of their finite lives. This Death Café will be hosted by Megan Mooney, MSW, of the Death Café St. Joe, along with Jill Badell, of Kansas City Death Café.

▪ Advance Care Planning There’s a lot of confusion about the process and docu- ments involved in advance care planning. Advance of what? You know, death. In this session, the process will be simplified and demystified. Sandra Silva, JD, Vice

President of Education at the Center for Practical Bioethics, will do the honors.

▪ Donating your body Many falsehoods exist about the body dona- tion process, as do a few enduring truths. Here to help you avoid pitfalls is our resident expert, Dr. Pam Thomas, director of the willed Body Program at the Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences. Pam is a 20-year member our FCA-GKC board. Check out the article on page 1 for an advance briefing.

▪ Home funerals and green burial Some families are reclaiming our American heritage and reviving a lost tradition by bringing after- death care back into family and community life. Sarah Crews, of Heart Land Home Funerals, knows exactly how to accomplish it. Sarah will be joined by FCA-GKC president Nancy Jobe, who is personally experienced with the natural (green) burial process. ¤

Silva

Badell Mooney

Thomas

Crews

Jobe

Friday, Nov. 14 1:30–4:30 p.m. 4801 Rockhill Road, Kansas City