Social changes shake staid funeral industry

Wednesday, April 5th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

AGAWAM, Mass. (AP) -- The ad looks like plenty of others: a list of products, prices and a promise to nip off an extra 5 percent if you find a better deal elsewhere. Major credit cards accepted, of course.

But this ad isn't selling televisions or love seats. It's a funeral home peddling caskets and services.

Though the sales pitch rattled some competitors, it reflects deep changes reshaping the funeral home trade, which was long handed down largely from father to son as a business and way of life.

Large corporate ownership, more aggressive sales and marketing, new lines of business and consumer demands for more choice have chipped away at standard tastes and the religious orthodoxy that ruled the industry for generations. The growth of suburbs, a faster and more mobile way of life and a more culturally diverse and secular society are also shaking up once-staid businesses.

"Years ago, people would purchase a funeral like it was their last gift to the deceased. Today, people purchase funerals for the benefit they receive," said Frank Forastiere, president of both the Massachusetts Funeral Directors Association and Forastiere Family Funeral Homes.

In January, Forastiere decided to try something new. He placed a full-page newspaper ad that took the unusual step of including a list of prices and a discount offer. He claimed the "lowest priced funeral and cremation services" in town, ranging from $1,095 to $1,995. The ad showed six caskets and cremation boxes ranging from $60 to $1,395.

"It's a crass ad," said Robert Czelusniak, the president of a competitor, Czelusniak Funeral Home.

Czelusniak wrote to dozens of independent funeral homes, hoping to seize on the ad to spur opposition to big corporate ownership.

"If the Wall Street firms control too much, then I see service disappearing too much and greed and money being the crux," he said.

Four big, publicly held companies now control 13 percent of the country's roughly 22,000 funeral homes -- an $11 billion annual business, according to the National Funeral Directors Association. Though most other companies are small and often family-owned, many own multiple sites.

Forastiere's grandfather opened the family's first funeral home in 1905 as an independent business which eventually expanded to six homes. The company, however, has merged with Carriage Services, which owns about 180 sites.

Some predict more consolidation because group owners can buy more cheaply, give more benefits to workers and better handle the heavier regulatory burden now imposed by government.

The industry also has seen changes in the funeral ceremony itself.

Strains of Elton John and Celine Dion have taken a place beside Bach in the repertory of funeral music. One trucker's family found comfort in seeing his rig and dog stationed in the parking lot at a Forastiere funeral.

Many funerals are planned and even paid for in advance, making arrangements easier for families often separated by thousands of miles.

Forastiere is building a Web site where customers will be able to order flowers and sign condolence books. He hopes eventually to join in the industry's latest technological innovation: virtual funerals Web cast for far-flung relatives.

"I remember when we were married 31 years ago," said Forastiere's wife, Lila. "Every funeral was the same; only the name was different. Now, no two funerals are the same."

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On the Net: National Funeral Directors Association: http://www.nfda.org