Funeral director gives families a place to grieve
While the coronavirus tore families apart, one funeral director worked hard to meet the needs of the living and the dead at her small funeral parlor in The Bronx.
At the height of the virus’ deadly siege on the five boroughs, Rayna Hewitt desperately labored to secure funeral slots for grieving families, who called from every corner of the city.
Funeral directors across the city were struggling with an unprecedented amount of death, and there just wasn’t enough space for everyone.
“I didn’t want to turn families away but I also have a moral responsibility not to overbook,” said Hewitt, 36, who worked 12-hour shifts, seven days a week, at Legacy Funeral Service on East Gun Hill Road.
She raced to morgues and hospitals across the boroughs to retrieve several bodies a day, and often trekked hours away to crematories in Pennsylvania and Connecticut because there was a backlog in the New York area.
The parlor went from holding several services a month pre-pandemic to several a week.
“We constantly deal with death and sadness, but now it is so much more,” Hewitt said. “I don’t think anyone expected it to be this severe.”
In late April, the challenges were proving too difficult to handle alone — so her life partner, Patricia Carter, ditched her TD banking job and jumped into the family business. “I literally just quit my job after watching how overworked she was,” Carter said. “There was still a need to serve people and I felt like I could help on the administrative side of things.”
Hewitt credits Carter, 33, with keeping operations running smoothly.
“Now I can focus on the logistical stuff and she can man the phones. I am so grateful to her because she’s doing an amazing job,” the veteran director said.
Hewitt is satisfied she’s able to provide some closure for families, even as new restrictions mean many people are resorting to direct cremations and burials.
“I have to remind myself I am doing this for a greater purpose,” she said. “I am doing it for the people and want them to know they are being handled with the utmost respect and care.”