Memorial Day 2010: To salute or swim? Making the most of your day off…

Memorial Day is an incredible holiday. Sure, it always guarantees a Monday off of work and sometimes even results in a pool party at the neighbors’, but it’s more than that. Especially for Sunset Hill Funeral Home & Cemetery.

Following the end of the Civil War, several communities set aside a day to mark the end of the war or as a memorial to those who died, and called it “Decoration Day.” The alternative name of “Memorial Day” wasn’t actually used until 1882, and wasn’t declared as the official name by Federal law until 1967, almost 100 years later. Clearly our government has always been the type to take their time.

Whereas Memorial Day was once recognized as a day of remembrance, it is now observed by most businesses as a three-day weekend kickoff to summer vacation season. God Bless America.

Sunset Hill takes a more traditional route when it comes to Memorial Day, however. In fact, the funeral home actually remains open during the national holiday. This is to cater to those community members who also traditionally celebrate Memorial Day, by visiting cemeteries and memorials to commemorate the U.S. men and women who died while in the military service.

Every Memorial Day, Sunset Hill Funeral Home & Cemetery invites all to join them in honoring the veterans who have proudly served this country. This Memorial Day, May 31^st, will mark the 21^st Annual Sunset Hill Cemetery Memorial Day Salute and Avenue of Flags.

"Avenue of Flags" on Memorial Day

Over 1,000 American flags will be raised and displayed in remembrance of our fallen soldiers from 9am-3pm on Memorial Day. The event will be opened with a prayer service overlooking the cemetery’s Serenity Lake, followed by a balloon release at noon in recognition of all deceased veterans. The close of services will be signaled with the playing of the taps at 3pm, the time that also marks the national moment of remembrance across the country.

If you would like to volunteer to help raise or lower flags this Memorial Day, please contact the Sunset Hill Cemetery office at 618-656-3220 or visit our website for more info. Or, if you would like to simply skip the BBQ and honor our country this Memorial Day, stop by anytime between 9am-3pm on May 31^st and take part in the truly unique experience during your day off.

Complete Service, Complete Trust, Complete Care

Sunset Hill Cemetery is one of the St. Louis area’s finest and most respected cemeteries. Many area residents, like yourself, chose Sunset because of the accessible location, the well-manicured grounds and the overall beauty and serenity it provides. The full-time staff of Sunset Hill Cemetery work very dilegently to ensure we live up to the standards of our community.

To further serve your family’s needs, in 2005 we built a new on-site funeral home on the grounds of Sunset Hill Cemetery. Our new facility, Sunset Hill Funeral Home, was built to be spacious, warm and comfortable for you and your family. Our newest location offers peace-of-mind and allows one to make all their arrangements seamlessly in one place, saving time and money.

Sunset Hill Funeral Home

We understand the decisions one has to make are sometimes difficult and overwhelming. That is why our courteous and professional staff are here to assist you with absolutely NO OBLIGATION. If you have questions regarding pre-arraanged funerals, burial, or memorialization, we offer many options and programs that can be tailored to meet the needs of you or your loved one.

We offer services at Sunset Hill Funeral Home & Cemetery, along with Herr Funeral Homes in Collinsville and Caseyville, Illinois. We have been an integral part of the Metro East communities for over 100 years and rest assured you can put your trust in us for the next 100 years.

Dead or alive, don’t drink and drive.

The New Year usually brings a feeling of a new beginning, a fresh start, a clean slate, and all that jazz. And typically, this is a good thing, even for the funeral business. So why does it seem that 2010 is the year for crazy funeral home staff to come out of the woodwork?

Just a week after the ball dropped in Times Square, a hearse driver in California did more than drop the ball. He completely ruined his career, his trust from an entire family and community, and of course, we can’t forget that he scorched a hearse. Fortunately, there was no damage to the departed.

While on his way to the funeral service, the hearse driver first collided with a truck, and continued to drive erratically at over 65 mph regardless of a blown front tire. As the tire wore away and the metal wheel was grinding along the pavement, sparks started flying and the hearse quickly became engulfed in flames.

Fortunately for the family and the driver, the casket and contents were unscathed. The family and driver however, were anything but.

The one person who should have definitely been sober for the funeral was the one person that was drunk…and behind the wheel of the hearse transporting a family’s loved one to their funeral service.

According to ex-colleagues of the funeral home, the driver had a reputation for being rude and disrespectful to fellow employees as well as to the families and friends attending the funerals that he directed.

I guess that should’ve been a red flag.

Fortunately, the employees at Sunset Hill are not only reputable, but also trustworthy and respectful. In fact, the average Sunset Hill Funeral Home and Herr Funeral Home employee has been in the family business for at least a decade.

The Herr Funeral Home trifecta prides themselves on over 150 years of honest and quality service, always treating employees with the utmost respect, and always treating clients even better.

And most importantly, Sunset Hill and Herr Funeral Homes employees don’t drink and drive.  Instead, they are working to add 2010 to the many successful years they have had thus far.

Do You Hear What I Hear?

In honor of the holiday spirit that is upon us, I thought it would be appropriate to put this hilarious (and true!) story to song…and a Christmas song at that!  So just to provide a little background info before you perform a musical, Bob was overseeing a funeral at Sunset Hill one afternoon when he was approached due to a peculiar noise that was distracting several family members during their time of remembrance.  This is the tale, and now ballad, of what happened that day, that must be sung (or hummed) to the tune of the well-known carol, “Do You Hear What I Hear”…

(You can sing it along to the instrumental version here —> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7E-cQpr4l2c )

Said the daughter of a dad who just passed,

“Do you hear what I hear?

Sounds like the AC is gonna blast!

Do you hear what I hear?”

“A whistle, a squeak, of a high frequency is ringing loudly in my ear, is ringing loudly in my ear.”

Said the daughter to the funeral director,

“Do you hear what I hear?”

He checked out the AC like an inspector,

“Do you hear what I hear?”

The director said, “I don’t think it’s the AC, it’s someone’s hearing aid frequency. It’s someone’s hearing aid frequency.”

The funeral director walked around,

“Do you hear what I hear?”

Shaking hands and listening for the sound,

“Do you hear what I hear?”

Aunt Bea, Aunt Pam, could it be Uncle Dan? Someone’s got to turn that thing down. Someone’s got to turn that thing down.

He tried to seek the culprit of the squeak,

“Do you hear what I hear?”

Until up to the casket he did sneak,

“Do you hear what I hear?”

“It’s him, he’s dead, and still got aids in his head!” Then the daughter and director began to laugh. Seems that dad made them smile on his behalf!

Everyday is Day of the Dead at Sunset Hill!

Celebrate good times with your deceased loved ones…come on!

El Dia de los Muertos (The Day of the Dead) is a holiday celebrating those who have passed away.  Celebrated in Mexico, friends and family gather to remember their loved ones who are no longer with them.  It occurs on November 1^st (in connection with All Saints’ Day of the Catholic holiday) and November 2^nd (All Souls’ Day).

Although so close in date to our personal favorite howl-iday, Halloween, Day of the Dead is not quite as terror-fying and has no connection at all.  While partying with ghosts is involved in both of these events, Day of the Dead honors those who have passed before us in a positive light of remembrance.  And that’s just how Sunset Hill likes to do it.  There are no costume contests or walking door-to-door for candy involved.  So put that witch hat away for next October 31^st.  Save the Reese’s for us…

Families plan all year for this big hoop-la. Loved ones visit the graves with gifts to honor those that have passed.  Graves are cleaned and decorated so the deceased are still fashionable and caught dead in something pretty.

Private altars are built to communicate with the dead, containing keepsakes and favorite foods/drinks of the one that has passed.   They then “fiesta” to honor their “familia.”

The rituals and celebrations date back for almost 3000 years.  Long time, I know.  Death was not seen as an end to life, but instead, a continuation.  That circle of life just keeps spinning.  To them, life was only a dream and it wasn’t until death that one became fully awake.

At Sunset Hills, everyday is a celebration of those who have passed before us.  We encourage family and friends to visit and honor their loved ones.  Bring your loved one the latest issue of Us Weekly, a bag of Doritos, or an ice cold Pepsi.  Bring some for us, too (we prefer Cooler Ranch flavor…FYI). Oh, and don’t forget our Reese’s!

It’s the most wonderful time of the year!

Maybe it’s extremely cliché, but Halloween might just be Sunset Hill Funeral Home & Cemetery’s favorite holiday.

And not just because people adorn their lawn with inflatable ghosts and zombies and hang plastic body parts from the Bradford Pear in the front yard. I mean, yes, what funeral home and cemetery staff wouldn’t chuckle at the thought of families decorating their dead-free homes with fake coffins and cheesy headstones?

But that’s not why Sunset Hill adores Halloween.  Instead, this funeral home loves the history and tradition of the holiday, two things that are often shadowed by candy and costumes when Halloween comes around.

Halloween originates from the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain, which took place more than 2,000 years ago. Celebrated on November 1^st, the beginning of the dark, cold winter, Samhain marked the Celts’ new year, a time often associated with human death.

According to Celtic beliefs, the night before the new year opened the boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead, and the ghosts of the dead would return to earth, during which they would celebrate Samhain.

Their celebration included building huge sacred bonfires where animal and crop sacrifices were made, and the Celtics dressing up in costumes of animal heads and skins, and Celtic priests making predictions about the future.

When Romans took over most of the Celtic territory, they combined two traditional Roman festivals with the Samhain celebration.  The first of the two was Feralia, a commemoration of the dead, taking place in late October. The second was an honorary day for the Roman goddess of fruit and trees, Pomona, whose symbol is the apple.  History shows that this could possibly explain the much-loved Halloween tradition of “bobbing for apples.”  My favorite!

Years later, Christianity had began to take over the Celtic lands, and Pope Boniface IV named November 1^st “All Saints’ Day” to honor saints and martyrs.  Thanks a lot, Pope…I guess Sunset Hill is gonna have to do something special for our fearless leader, Bob Herr, in honor of his saintlihood!

History maintains that the Pope was probably creating a church-sanctioned holiday to replace the Celtic festival of the dead.  Leave it to the Pope for ruining our fun!

This new celebration was also called All-hallows or All-hallowmas, meaning All Saints’ Day in the Middle English tongue. The night before the festivities, also known as Samhain, was changed to “All-hallows Eve,” and is now known adoringly as our favorite holiday, Halloween!

200 years later, the Christian church decided they love celebrating the dead as much as Sunset Hill does, and made November 2^nd “All Souls’ Day” to honor those who have crossed over. Similar to Samhain, the holiday is celebrated with big bonfires, parades, and costumes, much like our Halloween is celebrated today.

Honor the dead this year by touring Sunset Hill Funeral Home and Cemetery, where you can see the history and tradition that lies within the walls of a place that celebrates death every day of the year. You might even get to see some coffins and cheesy tombstones – although they’re probably not for decoration.

‘Sha-mone!

A funeral should be a celebration of someone’s life, not an exploitation.  A funeral at Sunset Hill Funeral Home?  A celebration.  The public memorial and funeral of Michael Jackson?  Arguably exploitation.

Between the remaining Jackson brothers’ recent efforts to star in a reality show to the swarms of reporters and film crews crowded outside of the cemetery barricades just a few days ago, Michael Jackson’s death seems to have been used more for entertainment and exploitation than as a means of remembering the king of pop.

Although seemingly respectful by keeping the media away from the burial, the Jacksons welcomed cameras into the memorial service and the post-funeral dinner party, with rumors that the footage would be sold to A&E for a television special and DVD.  This way, the Jacksons can continue to profit off of Michael even after his passing.

Also at the dinner party was alleged talk of The Jackson brothers’ plans of reuniting for a Jackson Five tour.  Looks as if they are using the publicity they’re getting from Michael’s death to start a reunion tour.  Sounds like exploitation to me.

Television networks are exploiting Michael’s death more than anyone.  Capitalizing on special after special about Michael, televising the memorial service, and airing clips of the funeral that cameras could capture from outside the ceremony makes his death nothing more than a show to outsiders.

Disregarding their strides to stay in the limelight, I do feel bad for the family – I can’t imagine what they are going through. The family and friends of this man need to give themselves and be given the opportunity and the space to mourn their loss the way any loved ones would want to, and the constant reminder and prodding from the media keep this open wound from healing.

Perhaps the Jackson family should have laid Michael to rest at Sunset Hill, a funeral home and cemetery that exists to support loved ones and to celebrate lives, not to exploit death and the families left behind.

Although it might seem Bad, I guess the media just Don’t Stop ‘Til They Get Enough.  There’s just no way to Beat It no matter The Way it Makes anyone Feel.

I bet your hair would make a lovely wreath.

Didn’t I tell you that Sunset Hill and Herr Funeral Homes are full of legends?  Well, not only are the cemetery grounds peppered with gravestones of legend after legend, but the walls and shelves inside the funeral homes are also adorned with legendary pieces of history.  From hair wreaths passed down for generations to old embalming fluid recipes, Bob is intrigued by the lengths (and strands) that loved ones go through to remember those who have passed.

And now Bob is quite the local legend himself.  As the St. Louis Metropolitan Area’s Suburban Journal claims, “Collinsville funeral home owner finds humor in afterlife,” with Bob adding that the funeral home industry, “is really not a downer business.”  Photos and more information about his incredible collection can be read in the full article that ran last Tuesday: http://suburbanjournals.stltoday.com/articles/2009/09/15/madison/news/0916cvj-funeral.txt

His old and assumably dusty collections sure do give a whole new meaning to “scattering ashes.”

The legend of the catsup capital’s finest.

Let’s be honest. Sunset Hill and Herr Funeral Homes should be considered legendary. Why, you ask?  Well, not only has the trifecta been maturing for the last century and a half, but legendary people have been put to rest by the trio too.

From the home of the largest catsup bottle in the world – Collinsville, Illinois – came one of the most legendary high school basketball coaches of all time, some would argue.  And just two days before his 94^th birthday, this legend sadly left our beloved catsup capital, as well as almost a century of memories behind.

Throughout the 32 years that Coach Vergil Fletcher put his blood, sweat and tears into the Collinsville Kahoks basketball team, he helped bring 20 conference championships home, and led the Kahoks to a 747-171 record and a whopping 14 state tournaments, even earning two state titles (1961, 1965) during his career.

In 1970, he was named the National High School Basketball Coach of the Year, and was later awarded the honor of being inducted into both the National High School Sports Hall of Fame and the National High School Athletic Hall of Fame.  Now if that doesn’t amount to a sports legend, I don’t know what does.

But it doesn’t end at his successful record as a basketball, football, track, or cross country coach.  Coach Fletcher was often regarded as “inspiring,” “impacting,” and “strongly supportive,” by not only his students, but by the entire community.

And even more impressive was his ability to maintain success in his personal life too.  It seems like Coach made quite the father, grandfather, and husband by his personal stats – he shared six children with his wife, had 15 grandchildren, and had been married to his high school sweetheart for 71 years.

So imagine how special Sunset Hill and Herr Funeral Homes felt when they were asked to not only hold Coach Fletcher’s funeral service, but to also bury this local legend.  I would think that says something pretty great about the trifecta.

After the crowded and more than two-hour Mass in Collinsville, twenty of Coach Fletcher’s former players that were asked to be honorary pallbearers carried out the legend.  Coach Fletcher’s final resting place was reached by the never-ending funeral procession after a quick detour along Vergil Fletcher Drive, a street leading to Vergil Fletcher Gymnasium at the high school.  I can’t imagine a more appropriate route.

Albeit the trio has served some legendary people, you can’t underestimate the stories and legends that the Sunset Hill and Herr Funeral Homes themselves hold.  All three funeral homes have some of the most legendary pieces of history hanging throughout hallway after hallway.  Does that pique your interest?  I guess you’ll have to keep checking back to hear more about the legends of the funeral homes…

Ya gotta earn that urn.

I don’t know about you, but the practice of cremation has always been somewhat chilling to me, probably due to the fact that my only experience with it, until Sunset Hill Crematory, was my visit to Mauthausen, a Nazi Concentration Camp in Austria.

It is difficult for me to put into words how I felt upon entrance to the crematorium at Mauthausen – it was absolutely one of the heaviest, most emotional, and heart-wrenching experiences I’ve ever had.  And after walking through a room with a brick oven that held thousands of innocent victims’ horrific fates, the thought of cremation terrified me.

So when I was invited to check out the on-site crematorium at Sunset Hill, I wasn’t so sure it was something I wanted to do.  But on a tour of the facility, I somehow found myself inside the doors of, you guessed it, the crematorium.

I had anticipated feeling the way I had felt at Mauthausen, but it was so different at Sunset Hill.  Bob made me feel very comfortable, making sure to emphasize that cremation is not always a scary thing, and instead, is just another way to help families in need.

He explained the step-by-step process of a cremation while showing the different machines used along the way, which is actually quite fascinating…

First come the toe tags.  Each body is marked with a number, engraved into a metal circle that can’t be damaged during cremation.  Oh and don’t worry, Bob made sure to give me my very own toe tag that is now secured to my key chain.  Score!

The casket or container is first placed in the cremation chamber – and yes, the loved one is always in a container – it’s not only a more compassionate gesture, but also a health precaution.

And yes, only one body can be in the chamber at a time –not only to make sure the right ashes are going to the right families, but it’s also the law.

Families are invited to “push the start button” if they so please, otherwise the staff member cranks up the heat to more than 1400 degrees Fahrenheit for a couple of hours until all organic matter is consumed by heat or evaporation.

In addition to the ashes, the cremated remains, which are surprisingly actual bones that couldn’t be burned down, are processed into ash-like particles in a pulverizer.

When all is said and done, the families can do whatever they prefer with the remains, from spreading them upon a body of water to preserving them in an urn, and from burying the remains to processing them into jewelry.

When it comes to cremation, you want your loved one to get the best treatment in facility that isn’t far away from home.  Sunset Hill is part of a very small percentage of cremation service providers with their own on-site crematorium.

Just another fact that proves that all funeral homes are not created equal.  They might all have coroners, caskets, and cadavers, but many are missing one very hot commodity.  Emphasis on HOT.

That hot commodity is a crematorium.  And Sunset Hill Funeral Home & Cemetery has one.