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Story Time…

 

** Let’s start out by saying the names in the blog have been changed to not identify loved ones or their families.

We always get asked if spooky or creepy things happen in the funeral home or if the place is haunted. I am a firm believer since the person did not pass away from their life here then why would they hang around here. We are merely a holding place for the person’s body until final disposition takes place. Well… with that being said these two different incidents definitely confirm my theory.

I had been working at the funeral home for over 2 years, when I meet this little sweet older man (we are going to call Joe Frederick) Joe. We handled the funeral for his wife “Margie” which was a complete full traditional service and burial. A few weeks after the service, Joe stopped in to see if I could help him with insurance paperwork. We spent the afternoon talking and him telling me some amazing stories of their lives together. They had been married 60 years. We finished his paperwork and he asked to steal a mint. We keep mints on the desk to help sooth the families and give them something different to focus on. I said, of course and he left. The following week, Joe stopped in again to let me the progress of his insurance claim and to steal a mint. This became a weekly thing for him to stop in and visit with my mom, Cynthia and me. He usually stopped on Friday before or after lunch to check in with us and steal a mint. Joe’s visits were something I looked forward to every week. He would even notify us if he was going to miss a visit because of travelling plans or other things coming up. This went on for over 3 years.

On a Tuesday before noon, Joe stopped in to inform us he got his hair and was looking good (lol) and if God was ready for him to see Margie, he was going to be looking good. He even told my mom that he made her job easier since he got it shorter than normal. We laughed and, on his way, out he stole two mints (one before lunch and after). Well Friday came and Joe did not stop in, and I made a comment about it and my mom reminded me that he stopped by on Tuesday. “Oh that’s right”

The following week came, and I was looking forward to the Friday “Joe visit”.  About 2 pm on Friday, we got a call to go to the hospital for a death of a Joseph McFredrick.  My mom left for the hospital to bring the loved one back to the funeral home. Upon arrival to the hospital, my mom still did not recognize the name but once she walked into the room, she realized it was our Joe. The hospital gave the wrong last name. She was so upset but handled the call as a professional (we cry in the car).

During the conference with the family, they told us how he looked forward to the funeral home visit with his girls. And he spoke about us often, so we decided to bury him on a Friday. We get Joe ready for the viewing and set up the chapel. At the time it was the old chapel layout, and before the hallway we set a table with a photo of Joe and Margie at their 55th wedding anniversary in a crystal frame. As the afternoon, went on  and us going back in forth down the hallway we passed that table a lot. On one trip down the hall the table was standing and on the return trip the table was on the ground with the legs forward underneath and the tablecloth was perfectly laid out like a fan and the picture frame was standing up right. I yelled for my mom because I thought she was playing a joke on me. She did not do it because it happened to her about an hour later, table on the ground and the frame standing upright. We could not figure out what was going on and at this point we are asking Joe, what he wants and why he was upset. And then the light bulb of an idea came on… it was Friday and Joe needs a mint. So, we put two in his pocket, and everything was perfect after that point. His family got the biggest laugh out of that because he was stubborn and would make it a point to have things his way.

 

Ok… one more. We had a lady (“Sue”) come in and pre-arrange her entire funeral; every detail was planned out (music, speakers, photos for the DVD and cards). She was a poet and had beautiful poems she wanted included in her service. A few months before Sue’s death, she came into the funeral home, and we did a “dry” run on what was going to take place. She had us even print the cards and make the memorial tribute video for her to review and make any changes. After, Sue gave her approval, she wrote a letter to the family about her wishes and how things were to go.  The family came into the funeral home after her death, and we went over the arrangements. They were aware of her wishes but not the all the details. Long story, short… the “dry” run service took 2 hours not counting the cemetery service. The family was not happy about the length of the service and asked to take copies home of her wishes for them to look over. The night of the visitation came, and I was in the office printing out the memorial cards and orders of service for people to follow along. Two of the children, asked to look over the order of services because they had changes on speakers and music that was to be played. They went into the middle office and started reworking the order. At that time, a different family came to the office and said the music in the chapel had stopped playing (I thought how weird but who knows) so I went to check. The entire stereo system had turned off and would not come on. I tried different plugs and other things to get the music to work and nothing would power on. The family said that was fine, they would listen to the music on the DVD. I pass through the office and the kids were still rearranging the order of service discussing how they were going to make the service only be an hour long. Well, the next thing I know my printer jams (repeatedly), pages were coming out blank and then the power to the print goes off. I was like what is going on…. I was so frustrated at this point. I started looking for something and noticed the note written to the family from Sue and realized it was her causing all the issues. She wanted her funeral, her way. I went into the office and told the kids, “Ok, I don’t what you are doing but your mom is not happy about it, so we are going to do it her way or this is not going to work”. They laughed and agreed because they later told me weird things were happening to them also. We made several copies of the letter for display in the chapel so people attending knew this service was conducted and planned out by Sue. The next day, the service went on with no issues.

 

Do I think, the funeral home is haunted, “No” but I do believe the people that have recently died do visit from time to time to make sure their wishes are seen to “Yes”.

 

 

• Melissa