P. O. Box 7501
Cotati, CA 94931
707.568.7684
info@funeral.org

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Redwood Funeral Society
To protect and defend individual choice for dignified, ethical, and fairly priced death care, through education, referral, and advocacy.

Serving the California Counties of Lake, Marin, Mendocino, Napa, Solano and Sonoma

The Fribble, The Motley Fool, 11 October 1999

For many people, the cost of a funeral is equal to a full year of savings, or the cost of a used car, plus taxes of course. A few years ago a friend died and I saw something I'd never seen before: They held just a service and a cremation, not a full-blown funeral.

Of course! It's so simple. You don't need to give the funeral director $6000 or $7000 to prove you love your dad -- although that is what they want you to believe. Imagine spending all that money then burying it after three days! What Fool would do that? After a week, what do you have to show for a funeral? Absolutely nothing. And the deceased? Do they care if they have got a $5000 dollar coffin with a light in it?

I can't help but think that the funeral industry must be roaring with laughter with that option. Can you imagine anything more ridiculous than a coffin with a light in it? But they'll sell it to you with a straight face.

So when a loved one dies, consider what my friend's family did. Have a service and cremate or bury the body in a simple box and forget the silly notion that you have to give someone a $1000 a day to rent a room in their establishment and buy paraphernalia that you will bury just to prove you love the deceased. If you really want to prove that you care for them, why not do something for them while they are alive with the money you would have blown on a funeral? That is what a real thinking Fool would do.