Hawai'i mortuaries reassure families
By Jan TenBruggencate
Advertiser Staff Writer
Mourners have the right to remain for interment at virtually every cemetery in the state, although funeral authorities may recommend people leave when the actual burial takes place.
Families have been asking mortuaries about their rights after reports that a Big Island company was being investigated for burying bodies in body bags when relatives had paid for a casket. The issue also has been spotlighted by reports that a Georgia crematorium left several hundred bodies in body bags, uncremated, for years.
"The first thing is, people can stay and watch the burial of the family member in the casket which they purchased," said Kenneth Ordenstein, part of a management team that runs mortuaries, cemeteries and funeral plans on three islands.
Ordenstein, who has been president of the Hawai'i Funeral Directors Association and served on the national policy board of the National Funeral Directors Association, said customers had asked in recent days about their rights to view burials.
"We're getting quite a lot of questions," he said. "There is no problem with a family wanting to stay, at a safe distance."
Funeral directors on other islands agreed.
"Here the cemetery asks the family to leave, but if they ask to stay they can," said Mark Ballard of Ballard Family Mortuary on Maui.
"Usually, they can be accommodated by moving back some ways," said Patrick Contrades of Garden Island Mortuary on Kaua'i.
Cemeteries ask people to keep clear of the burial to prevent injuries by heavy equipment or having grief-stricken family members interfere with the lowering of the casket and filling of the grave.
Funeral and cemetery officials said there had been cases of family members climbing into graves during the burial.
"It's not done with a pick and shovel anymore, and it can be hazardous," Ordenstein said.
One memorial park operator said families are invited to stand by the park offices, where they can watch the casket being placed in the ground and the filling of the grave from a safe distance.
Some mortuaries also have received calls about the cremation process. Ballard said he had received more calls about that than about the burial issue.
Each of the funeral homes contacted by The Advertiser said they allow families to watch as loved ones are placed in the crematory. Ordenstein and Ballard said families may wait the several hours until the process is complete, and watch the ashes come out.
Modern cremation equipment does not include a window that would allow the cremation itself to be viewed, they said.
Several state agencies oversee funerals and burials. The Cemetery and Funeral Trust Program of the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs regulates the handling of prepaid funeral plans, and the agency's Regulated Industries Complaints Office takes complaints about such plans.
The state Department of Health Sanitation Branch handles issues related to embalming.
The Office of Consumer Protection oversees other funeral-related issues.
The Big Island case, in which bodies reportedly were buried without the purchased caskets, is being investigated by the attorney general's office as a possible theft.
People uncertain of which state agency to contact can call the department's Consumer Resource Center at 587-3222.
Reach Jan TenBruggencate at (808) 245 7825 or jant@honoluluadvertiser.com.
