Presentation is Everything: Casketing Techniques

Shun Newbern, CFSP

Some mortuaries have a niche or a trademark by which they casket remains.  After all, the open casket becomes the focal point of the visitation and funeral service.  This article will explore several techniques for the experienced and the novice practitioner.  One of the methods is embroidering the decedent’s full name on the overlay of the casket.  There is also the silver, black or gold tone name plaque that rests on the inner panel, or affixed to the outside of the foot panel, ogee or base of the casket.  Some casket manufacturers offer to engrave the decedent’s name, any special dates and even military or fraternity crests on the top of the casket.  This special touch adds view to the precious casket and the etching brings out the inlayed, brushed silver and gold colors of the finish.

As a whole, the casket industry has borrowed some personal touches from the families we serve.   One borrowed idea is the personalized head panel.  This replaced the colorful ribbons that displayed epitaphs such as “Mother, we love you” or the word “Granny.”  It was families who formerly placed these in the panel of the casket.  Today, white gloves or a lace white handkerchief is no longer used exclusively for the hands of the Church Mother or ministers wife.  Some establishments personalize and use a handkerchief for all women.  I observed on well known embalmer, Anthony S. Felder of The Spaulding Mortuary, Los Angeles, CA, used a beautiful black and gold “Jesus” scarf in the head panel of an inexpensive casket.  The scarf gave the casket a customized appearance – a perfect touch. Certainly, your mortuary has some trademarks that set it apart from other mortuaries in your community.  This is just a good example of the endless possibilities that exist.

Yet, the ultimate goal in reposing a decedent is presenting a perfect effigy.  An effigy is a pleasant memorable image or likeness.  As an embalmer, you are presenting a memory, a final picture that the bereaved will always remember.  Families rarely remember the Victorian décor of the arrangement office, but they will always remember how handsome their dad looked and how perfectly the flowers were placed around his casket. Psychological research has confirmed that the decisive moment for mourners is when they contend with the decedent’s death.  This may be the single most significant therapeutic event of the entire funeral process.  Therefore, presentation and appearance is everything. 

Preparing the Casket

Make sure the casket is clean and free from dust and debris. A 100% cotton cloth should be used to do the job.  For wooden caskets, use furniture polish to restore the shine.  Use a whiskbroom to clean a cloth-covered casket.  Many casket suppliers use just-in-time inventory which adds many problems to you as the director.  Schedule casket delivers at least one business day before the viewing to decrease the amount errors.  The mistakes and blunders range from incorrect interior, incorrect model of casket to large scratches or dents.  If the casket arrives four hours before the viewing, you may not have adequate time to make corrections.

Before moving or opening the casket, properly center the casket on a bier or church truck. Needless to say, it only took me one time to learn that you don’t try to move or open a casket that is not balanced - it will always fall over.  During my apprenticeship, my supervisor would say, “When you move that casket into the next room, just remember that you have time to grow the skin back on your hand, but I don’t have time to repaint the casket.  So watch the corners of the casket.”  A little tough love for a well learned lesson.  You should also, check for and touch up any scratches immediately.

Dressing 

If your firm does not have a Property Receipt form or a Clothing Receipt Policy, draft a form and establish a policy.  Purpose:  to minimize the decedent’s property loss, future litigation, or lawsuits against the mortuary.  Items such as small earrings, thin necklaces and photos can be lost very easily.  The Property Receipt form lists all the items that you will need to prepare the case for the visitation.  It also lists exactly what the family brought for the embalmer to use and items that the mortuary needs to return.  Upon request, I will be glad to share a copy with you. Additionally, make sure to place the decedent’s name on their clothing and personal effects.  Last, double check the decedent’s name/toe tags before dressing.  You would not want to put Mrs. Jackson’s wig-hat on Mrs. Smith’s head.

In order to prevent leakage and protect clothing, cover all incisions and lacerations with glue, cotton or plastic.  Use special caution with autopsied, edematous and obese cases.  If your standard practice is to cut clothing from the back, secure the neckline with safety pins or sew it together using a needle and thread.  After dressing the decedent, make sure the clothing is neat and wrinkle-free. Using a lint roller or some masking tape remove any lint or string that is visible.  Repeat this process after placing the case in the casket.

Make sure the buttons on the shirt lie flat and even with the coat sleeve buttons.  If any buttons are missing, replace them. Often, elderly people cannot afford professional cleaning so their clothing is likely to be stained or yellowed.  For that reason, always keep extra blouses and dress shirts available.

As professionals, we have the right to decide what is appropriate and what is inappropriate clothing for burial.  If the decedent has been fully autopsied, has multiple lacerations or IV sticks to the arms, the family should not use sheer, lace or sleeveless clothing for burial.

Obese and Tall Cases

It is hard to tell just by looking at me that I come from a lineage of obese men and women.  Therefore, I speak from personal experience when I say that families do not like their loved ones jammed into a casket that is too small.  Establish a practice of measuring questionably obese, wide or tall cases.

·         Standard interior metal caskets are 23 to 24 inches wide.

·         Standard interior copper/bronze caskets are 24 to 25 inches wide.  Those with urn shape shells allow an additional ½ inch.

·         Standard interior rental casket inserts are 21 inches wide

·         Standard interior wood caskets are 22 to 23 inches wide and often smaller.

·         Casket interior lengths are approximately   75 inches.

The embalmers should not delay informing the funeral arranger that the decedent is oversized and may require a customized casket.  Many funeral arrangers are reluctant to inform the family of this stating, “Oh no Shun, that is so embarrassing!  I can’t tell them that!”  It is not what you say; it is how you say it. Remember that you are the professional with high standards to maintain. As either you or a staff member is inquiring about the details for the arrangement, obtain an approximate weight and height.  Then state, “Our standard casket configurations are for individuals who weighs approximately 250lbs and that is 6’4” or less.  To make sure your mother will look comfortably, please allow me to suggest one of our customized caskets.”

Some families insist that we violate ethical standards and force their loved one into an inappropriate casket. By following these standards might surprisingly develop into a lawsuit that accuses the mortuary of mental anguish due to negligence. Furthermore, in no instance should you bend leg or perform procedures without the expressed written, not verbal, consent of the next of kin, in order to get the decedent to “fit.”  As a standard management practice, some firms keep a basic unisex colored oversized casket available.  The interior measurement is 27” x 78” and conveniently fits standard vaults and mausoleum crypts.

Casketing

Make sure that all financial arrangements are complete and the family has not changed their casket selection before casketing.  Begin by adjusting and cranking the casket bed up approximately half way.  The safest way to place the decedent in the casket is to use a hoist or lift.  If neither of these is available, save your back, have others to assist and lift with your arms, roll the body toward you and into the casket.  Most embalmers retire with back injuries because of a history of poor lifting techniques. 

If the decedent is wearing a jacket and the arms are bent to lie across the abdomen, there is usually some excess coat sleeve near the bend of the elbow.  Correct this by gathering the excess material under the arm.  From the wrist to the elbow, the coat sleeve should lie perfectly flat with a 45-degree angle of coat sleeve lying down from the shoulder to the elbow.  Most tailors stitch clothing at the very top of the shoulder.  Make sure the seam does not show.  To hide and align this seam, gently pull the tail of the jacket, blazer or sweater. Insert fillers into the sleeves of the jacket to remove any creases.  For decedents that have apparent weight loss in the chest, abdomen or arms, use fillers to give it a more natural appearance.  Fill these areas with light plastic or gift tissue paper.

As you prepare to close the lid of the casket, bend down and check to ensure that the inner panel of the casket lid is not touching the decedent’s face or hair.  Since families can now purchase caskets over the Internet and from storefront casket stores, we can not ensure that all casket lids will have the same amount of clearance for the face and hair.  Use the closed fist procedure by  placing the fist up-right on the edge of the casket, on the extendover.  If the decedent’s hair or forehead is higher than the top of the fist, the decedent is too high and needs to be lowered.  This procedure also allows the mortuary staff to close the casket at any time without further lowering or adjusting the bed.  This is a great technique to use, especially if the directors don’t take the necessary time and caution that an embalmer would take in closing a casket.

Cleaning the first call clothing and returning them to the family is a nice touch.  Some circumstances don’t allow this possibility.  Communicate with the family their options.  If you decided to place the decedent’s soiled or cleaned clothing in the foot of the casket, inform the family.  They may want you to destroy them or have them cleaned and returned to them later.  Disinterments are rather expensive, so allow the family to decide how to dispose of the property before conclusion of the service.

 The Visitation Room

Roll the casket into the state/visitation room, and center it properly against the wall.  Open the casket and step back to ascertain that the casket is straight on the wall and that the casket truck or bier is centered.  If there are velvet drapes on the church truck, be sure that all the seams are straight, neat and none of the material is sagging. 

The interior of the casket should be neat and free from stress due to the body holding the material in a bind.  It should be fluffy and loose or very tailored and neat depending on the type of material (i.e., crepe, velvet) or interior design.  The material should never be pulled and nothing should be visible that might disturb or upset the family (i.e. lint, massage cream, suture threads in the nose, dirty nails or cranial sutures). 

During my apprenticeship, a gentleman walked out of a visitation room and approached me carrying an empty embalming bottle.  The bottle was visible and resting under his father’s arm.  Needless to say, that was not a good moment to be an apprentice. I do not recommend the use of empty chemical bottles as arm positioners. Casket manufactures and chemical suppliers offer styrofoam arm positioners at little or no cost.

Also, check the decedent’s cosmetics again.  In the Visitation Room, it is possible to see errors that were not noticeable in the Preparation Room.  It may be necessary to adjust cosmetic lights to achieve the best appearance.  When you walk out of that room, make certain that you are proud of what you have done for the family.  Every job is a self-portrait of the person who did it. Therefore, autograph your work with quality (Proverbs 22:29).  In addition to yourself, designate a very meticulous and dependable staff member to check each visitation room before the family members arrive; this is the tow-look technique.  By using this method, the two of you can check for cosmetic stains or make clothing adjustments.  If you can see the errors, so can the family.  Perform this check through, until the day of the funeral service.

International lecture Dr. Miles Munroe once said, “All that you’ve learned, is all that you know.  But all that you know is not all that there is to learn.”  The creation of a beautiful and lasting memory is the foundation of funeral service.  Our profession’s beginning grew out of the public’s desire to view and visit with the dead one last time.  We must strive to create a pleasant memory for the families we serve – this is our foundation for a successful future in funeral service.