Funeral homes show their services are essential too

I have had the honor of working with the Virginia Funeral Directors Association for the last 12 years.

We are Virginia’s largest and oldest (132 years) association dedicated to the ethos of providing the last act of care for your loved ones and to developing policies that maintain professional standards for those who have found this profession to be their calling.

Death is a difficult subject to discuss and as a result, very often the discussion is delayed until there is simply no time left.

The need of our families, friends and neighbors to be able to say their goodbyes to loved ones in a manner that allows them some level of closure is an important one.

That is the work we do in our communities. It is ever present. Our members’ calling is to find ways for the families they serve to manage their grief and provide opportunities for positive memories to be shared and forever be held in their hearts.

We have always worked diligently, and recently even more so with stakeholders such as the Virginia Department of Health, the Office of Vital Records, the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner to provide real-time feedback and recommendations for improvements to the very important Electronic Death Registration System (EDRS). We continue to work to improve that program.

Our work with various secretaries of Health and Human Services and the State Corporation Commission’s Bureau of Insurance to improve outcomes of various necessary processes for families and funeral directors alike has been successful. Our members have served on the Board of Funeral Directors and Embalmers. We participate in various commissions with those in health care, and we help members of the General Assembly understand the nature of our profession when legislation is considered.

Our members work around the clock. The early morning or late-night calls upon homes. To scenes of crashes. To overdoses. The call for a post-deadline edit to an obituary when a grieving family realizes they have made a mistake in an obituary. Being an intermediary for family when the physician has not signed the death certificate.

This year, we worked more closely than ever with the Virginia Department of Emergency Management during the worst pandemic of our lifetimes.

What I witnessed was members of VFDA stepping up to be a part of the solution.

We participated in VDEM Mass Fatality Task Force meetings as officials worked to identify potential needs for storage and PPE in the event of a massive surge of COVID-19 related deaths across the commonwealth.

We helped funeral homes receive the equipment necessary to protect decedents’ families, hospital employees and their own employees from contracting this deadly virus.

The nature of a funeral director’s profession is somewhat undervalued in the realm of health care.

Admittedly, the director’s role in health care is death care. Funeral Directors are the “last responders,” as the phrase has been now coined.

I think my VFDA members deserve to be officially declared “essential workers” and “first responders.”

Despite that lack of official recognition, VFDA members continue to proudly, sacredly serve their communities. But no matter their official recognition by others, I always recognize them as heroes.

Lacy Whittaker is executive director of the Virginia Funeral Directors Association located in Hanover.