On Tuesday, a meeting was held between the funeral directors of Monongalia County, including representatives of Dering-Henson Funeral Home, Hastings Funeral Home, Fred L. Jenkins Funeral Home, McCulla Funeral Home, Owen-Neely Funeral Home and Smith Funeral & Cremation Care.
We discussed the current state of death care services that we provide to the families who call on us in their times of need, amid the challenges of COVID-19.
While we all fully understand that families should be allowed to grieve their loss with those sacred and time-honored traditions that families have come to expect, as funeral service professionals we must affirm the following common beliefs:
- Until further notice, we are strongly suggesting that no public visitations be scheduled, and that gatherings of no more than
10 people should be held in accordance with state and federal recommendations. - Proper social distancing should be observed at six feet.
- Families and their guests, please refrain from forms of physical condolences such as handshakes, hugs, kissing, etc.
- Private graveside services held be attended by no more than 10 family members, funeral home representatives and clergy.
- For those families asking for cremations followed by memorial services, that you schedule a memorial service in the future, when it is safe.
- If you’ve traveled outside the country in the last two weeks, have recently been ill or have shown symptoms, consider not attending these events in person, but send condolences to the family either by the funeral home’s website or by mail.
- Each of us want to make sure that families can properly say goodbye to their loved ones. However, we must consider our community, ourselves and our staffs and our own families’ well-being during this time.
Together, we can all do our part to flatten the curve of COVID-19.
Signed by the Funeral Directors and staffs of:
Dering-Henson Funeral Home
Fred L. Jenkins Funeral Home
Hastings Funeral Home
McCulla Funeral Home
Owen-Neely Funeral Home
Smith Funeral & Cremation Care
