Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, August 22, 1993                   TAG: 9308220003
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: B-3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

FUNERAL FACTS

There is no law requiring that bodies be buried in a casket. There is no law requiring bodies be embalmed and there is no requirement that a body be buried within three days of death other than religious customs and traditions. Once embalmed, a body can be held virtually indefinitely to give families and others time to arrange and assemble for services.

Although cremation might be less expensive than ground burial, the least expensive method of disposition is what funeral directors call "immediate burial," which does not involve visitation or use of the home's chapel and other facilities.

John Oakey & Son in Salem has a museum room on its second floor with a collection of antique coffins and embalming instruments.

It is possible to rent a casket. Most funeral homes offer a rental casket which is most often used by those who wish to have visitation and services before cremation. Caskets can be purchased from a wholesaler and avoid funeral home mark-up.

Funeral home directors and embalmers are licensed by state regulators, but cemetery operators are not licensed.

Funeral homes cannot solicit business via telephone.

In many cemeteries you need not purchase an entire plot to bury a container of cremains.

A brand-new Cadillac hearse costs about $64,000.

Many vaults are warranted for 50 to 75 years.

The Batesville Casket Co. in agreement with the Department of Agriculture Forest Service reforests trees through a living memorial where families can pay to have a tree planted in memory of the deceased. Batesville Casket is a unit of Hillenbrand Industries, which also owns Medeco Security Locks of Salem.