As the threat of transmitting the coronavirus transforms social gatherings, funerals in Syracuse have taken on a different, distant form.

Families seeking final arrangements for relatives who have died during this time may receive gloves and masks upon entering funeral homes. Other families unwilling or unable to meet in person simply call to make arrangements over the phone.

Community members face a new reality of separation from loved ones both living and deceased. The shift challenges every part of the funeral industry, with its workers now placed on the frontlines of the city’s battle with the coronavirus, said John Forbes, a managing funeral director at Delaney Greabell Adydan Funeral Home.

“Usually when people come in we shake their hands, we offer a shoulder to cry on,” Forbes said. “But we can’t do that anymore.”

Cities like Syracuse have come to a near standstill as people stay home to curb the spread of the coronavirus, which causes COVID-19, but work hasn’t stopped for essential workers in the funeral industry.

Dozens of funeral directors in Syracuse and across the country have continued to offer their services and provide comfort to families of the deceased, regardless of whether their deaths were related to COVID-19.

“Death is happening all the time,” said Eric Gang, a funeral director and the CEO of Gang Memorial Chapel. “It’s just that this aspect is more of a focal point this time.”

As the coronavirus crisis developed, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo suspended gatherings of 500 people or more on March 12. By March 16, federal guidelines reduced this number to 10.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced an executive order March 20 that halted all funeral operations. The state relaxed its restrictions one day later to allow immediate family to attend services.

At first, it seemed like the guidelines were changing every day, said Charles Garland, a funeral director and manager of Garland Brothers Funeral Home.

The changes to safe crowd sizes immediately affected funeral services, Garland said. He’d explain the guidelines to grieving families multiple times, only to find the recommendations had changed again days later, he said.

“You’re explaining one thing to the family then the next day it’s another change,” Garland said. “There’s just all this uncertainty and fear.”

Some families opt for small, brief graveside services, standing six feet apart from one another in the cemetery. If desired, a religious speaker will also attend and say a few words. No one is allowed to touch the body, according to guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Others have postponed services, choosing instead to cremate loved ones now and hold memorials later when social gathering restrictions are lifted. Some funeral directors expect to be busy scheduling services when that time arrives, Forbes said.

Some funeral homes are offering private, live-streamed services to accommodate families that wanted more people to attend.

Restrictions on social gatherings may disrupt grieving processes for families, who have lost the ability to say goodbye in person to loved ones dying in hospitals now closed to visitors, Gang said. Waiting for the crisis to pass before holding services could further stifle healing, he said.

“By postponing it, they’re not grieving right away,” Gang said. “To stretch it out like that, it puts families — again, we don’t have a choice — but it puts families through a double trauma, so to speak.”

Funeral homes are doing what they can meanwhile to provide the best service possible, though some now operate with a smaller staff size to avoid putting older workers at risk, Gang said.

Joel Friedman comes into Birnbaum Funeral Service Inc. in the morning, where he stays on call as a funeral director 24/7. When a call does arrive, Friedman brings a mask and gloves to wear over his suit while he goes to pick up the body of the deceased.

Death care workers must wear disposable gloves and transport the body in a sealed covering, per the CDC’s guidelines. Not knowing whether it’s possible to get COVID-19 by touching a body is a point of concern for many funeral directors, Garland said.

Conscious of his own exposure, Friedman sits across the room at a different table with each family he meets. He doesn’t reuse or recycle any pens or materials the families come in contact with. After the families leave the funeral home, Friedman disinfects the building.

“You always have to have (risk) in the back of your mind,” said Friedman. “It makes you think twice about everything.”

None of the staff in Garland’s funeral home have tested positive for COVID-19. Courtesy of Charles Garland

Kevin Mathewson, a funeral director and owner of Mathewson-Forani Funeral Home Inc, said his exposure also worries his family, who are concerned about him potentially bringing the virus home.

None of the staff in Garland’s funeral home have tested positive for COVID-19.

“Right now, we’re lucky. But, of course, that can change,” Garland said.

Nurses may ask Forbes questions and take his temperature before allowing him to transfer a body from the hospital’s morgue to the funeral home, he said. Forbes wears personal protective equipment, or PPE, throughout the process.

“There’s just no normal way of doing business anymore,” Friedman said.

Accessing PPE is a major concern for funeral directors, said Ellen McBrayer, a spokesperson for the National Funeral Directors Association. Some suppliers may consider death care workers to have less need for the supplies compared to health care workers, she said.

“To our industry and medical professionals, it would be just like asking a doctor to perform surgery without gloves on,” she said.

Funeral directors especially lack enough medical gowns, gloves, N95 masks and cleaning supplies, McBrayer said. The U.S. is also experiencing a shortage of body bags, which the CDC requires for transporting people who have died from COVID-19.

Suppliers could take months to ship out orders for protective equipment because of the shortages, Forbes said. Garland, who ordered more masks two months ago, doesn’t expect his shipment to arrive until late May or early June.

Mathewson didn’t have any N95 masks left in his supply by April 14, forcing him to borrow from another funeral director. As funeral directors’ associations continue to petition federal officials, communication with suppliers has been difficult, Mathewson said.

“We can’t get it anywhere,” he said. “When you ask the state, they say get it from the county. When you ask the county, they say get it from the state. So, nobody really knows what to do and where to go at this point.”

Other funeral homes have yet to experience the shortage. Friedman and Gang still have enough backup supply to last for now, they said.

Officials have confirmed more than 263,460 cases in New York State, where more than 15,700 have died from the virus.

More densely populated metropolitan areas like New York City have become overwhelmed with deaths from COVID-19, and funeral homes have been stretched thin by the number of bodies still awaiting burial, Mathewson said.

To compensate for the unavailability of crematoriums, some funeral directors in other parts of the state have helped cremate bodies in their local crematoriums, Mathewson said. He has taken two calls from New York City from people asking for funeral services because they were deferred from funeral homes in their area, he said.

“I feel for the funeral directors,” he said. “I feel more for the families, not being able to be helped.”

While some funeral directors stay in regular contact with each other, communication between funeral homes in Syracuse varies, Mathewson said. Online, Mathewson stays updated through a community Facebook page for funeral directors to share experiences.

“We’re a family, basically. So, we all do what we can for others as needed,” he said.

Despite the surrounding fear, many funeral homes, including Garland Brothers Funeral Home, cautiously continued their work during those times, Garland said. The present situation calls for the same action, he said.

“Right now, the more we find out about this, the more we can accept this new normal,” he said. And eventually it will end.”

A funeral director at Fergerson Funeral Home since 1977, Pat Fergerson grew up hearing stories of relatives who survived the 1918 influenza pandemic, knowing that some of her own family members had passed away from the disease.

Gang’s grandfather also worked as a funeral director at the time of the 1918 pandemic, during which he experienced similar stresses, he said.

“They weathered the storm and they survived,” Fergerson said. “And that will happen again. We will survive.”

Published on April 26, 2020 at 11:06 pm

Contact Marnie: ammunozc@syr.edu