Cremation Random Thoughts
Looking back at some of the events that shaped the past year the one that stands out in the minds of most people is Hurricane Katrina. This disaster affected every walk of life for a great number of people in this country and around the world. It called into question the country’s preparedness for such a disaster and it appealed to the part of human nature that wants to help those that are in need. Hopefully lessons had been learned and while it isn’t possible to stop a natural disaster it is possible to be better prepared. When I say that, I am not speaking of funeral service. If anything the stories I have heard about how funeral directors planned and prepared in the days prior to the hurricane to care for the bodies in their care, were remarkable. Some of the stories shared by funeral directors who live in the areas affected by the hurricane and the stories of those who responded to the need for help were inspiring. Some things don’t change year to year. Negative stories about funeral service sell, while the positive ones don’t seem to make it outside the industry circle. At the conclusion of the National Funeral Directors Association’s convention there was a very moving memorable tribute to those who participated in the recovery efforts in the areas affected by Hurricane Katrina. From the lists of volunteers ready to roll to the first-hand accounts of funeral directors responding to the call to an eloquent moving passage by funeral service’s poet laureate Tom Lynch the closing ceremony itself was an essay about what is good about funeral service which is the people. One of the saddest and most disturbing stories I’ve ever had to report came out of Hudson, Wis. Most people in funeral service have heard the story of the funeral director, Dan O’Connell and his intern James Ellison who were brutally murdered in the funeral home on Feb. 3, 2002. The case went unsolved for nearly three years before investigators pieced together a very complicated series of events which led to a Catholic priest killing himself. On Oct. 3, 2005 a Wisconsin Circuit Court judge determined that the priest was the likely killer. The outline of this story in and of itself is disturbing. It gets worse when you hear about what kind of people the victims were. O’Connell 39 was a model funeral director and a family man. He was deeply involved in his community taking part in many aspects from the local chamber of commerce to coordinating a dinner to raise money for the victims of Sept. 11. Ellison 22 a senior in the University of Minnesota’s mortuary science program and an intern for O’Connell was just starting out. His parents Carsten and Sally Ellison spoke of his desire to be a funeral director and how at this young age he had already touched so many lives. Just a few weeks before he was murdered, Ellison helped a family whose young daughter was killed in a car wreck. Sally Ellison spoke of the kind words the family had extended about the care and comfort that her son offered to them during that devastating time. “He could have been a super funeral director,” Sally Ellison said. She paused and added, “He already was. “As we close the book on 2005 I look ahead and think how the profession will be changed and reshaped by events that will take place in the coming year. There is no doubt that the profession’s mission of compassionate service will remain.
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