A memorial bench Lynn and Jim Kastella just finished paying for sits among several giant Aleppo pines at East Lawn Palms Cemetery.
The Kastellas have suffered several tragic losses over the years — two beautiful children, a beloved sister — but this bench isn’t for their deceased loved ones. This one is for them.
The Tucson couple are among a growing number of people who are making funeral and memorial arrangements, and payments, before they die. Like the Kastellas, they wish to ease the burden on the living by having their funerals or cremations paid for, their histories written down and their wishes made clear.
Providing such help and financial advice is one of the primary objectives of a locally based group that recently went statewide. The Funeral Consumers Alliance of Arizona, which started in Tucson in 1961, not only helps people plan for funerals and memorials, but its volunteers also try to protect people from overspending. The nonprofit does funeral cost comparisons every two years.
People are also reading…
People can save hundreds and even thousands simply by researching what’s out there, said Ruth Bennett, the organization’s executive director.
“We try to make sure that families know they have rights and that making a few phone calls can save them thousands of dollars,” she said. “Because families don’t call around, they often end up paying too much.”
Joining the alliance also can provide savings, she said. It now has agreements with six funeral homes statewide to give discounted services to members, she said. Membership costs $20 per person to start, and then there’s $12 per year in membership dues. The Funeral Alliance has about 6,000 members statewide and is one of 70 affiliates nationwide.
It also provides advocacy on behalf of those having trouble with funeral homes, Bennett said. For example, she’s currently helping a widow who was not provided with the itemized bill she needs for Veterans Affairs reimbursement.
“We’re here to try to make sure that families are treated fairly by all funeral homes,” she said.
Prices can vary tremendously. A glance at the alliance’s 2012 price comparison for Tucson shows the cost of a direct cremation ranges from $865 to $2,140 while a full funeral service can run from $2,990 up to $5,905. New cost comparisons will be posted on its website in early 2016.
The Kastellas are not part of the Funeral Alliance. Instead, they said they were influenced by what’s happened earlier in their lives when a loved one died unexpectedly and they found themselves making quick decisions that involved thousands of dollars.
“When I lost my children, I couldn’t even breathe, let alone think about something like this,” she said.
Their experience planning and paying ahead for their own services went very well, Lynn Kastella said.
“They walked us through what we wanted, as a couple,” she said of Tucson’s Adair Funeral Home. “We wanted to have our religion involved, our family involved.”
Some of the discussions took time, she said. At first she wasn’t comfortable with the idea of cremation, for example, but eventually she came around to her husband’s viewpoint.
Brenda Goldsmith, executive director of the El Rio Foundation, is a longtime member of the Funeral Alliance and the current board secretary. She learned about the Funeral Alliance 24 years ago, when her grandparents became members and planned their services.
Too many times since, Goldsmith said, she’s seen families take out loans to pay for a funeral.
“I never knew what a wide variety of costs there are,” she said. “It’s really about helping people sort through what their wishes are when they are still alive.”
Discussion and planning can really help ease the stress, she said.
“When we’re in that emotional state,” she said, “it’s the worst time to be making financial decisions.”
