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By Tony Maluski
Dr. Rufus Morgan, a retired Episcopal minister in his 80’s, gave the following account of burials in Appalachia in
the early 1900’s. It is taken from the book Foxfire 2 -- the chapter titled "Old Time Burial". (1)
"I really wish that the same burial customs prevailed now as then. The neighbors would come in during a sickness and
then in death, and they would lay out the corpse and dress him – get him ready for burial, and a neighbor carpenter
would make the coffin, and neighbors would dig the grave, and the coffin would be taken to the churchyard or cemetery in a
farm wagon drawn by horses or mules, then the remains would be buried by the minister; sort of a very simple – and to
my way of thinking, more reverent than the present practice."
Now a story told to my by a young dental technician. This happened in the mid- 1990’s in Houston, Texas.
One Christmas her mother-in-law, who had buried her husband six months earlier, told her three children and their spouses
that she had a wonderful gift for them. She had gone to the funeral home and made all the arrangements for her burial. They
would not have to go through what she had, when their father died. She was pleased and her three sons and daughter-in-laws
were pleased for her.
Four months later, she suddenly died. When they went to the funeral home to make arrangements they learned that she had
purchased a $16,000.00 funeral and had only made three payments. The sons felt obligated to honor their mother’s wishes
and had a to come up with the remainder. The funeral home was generous enough to take their credit cards, maxed them out and
forgave the remaining $700.00 +/-. Mom had her funeral and three families were bitter along with their grief.
Now a letter received by The Samaritans. (It is also in the introduction to Funeral aid in The Samaritan Manual.)
"Dear Samaritans,
On behalf of all the family. I hope you will accept my deepest appreciation for your many kindnesses during the time around
Dad’s death. We were overwhelmed by the outpouring of help and thoughtfulness, of the church and all of you. I must
tell you, we felt like we were living in a small country town in the 1800’s. We never imagined that there could be such
special help and concern in this too-big and impersonal city.
I haven’t begun to touch on all the way you helped us, but for all of them, we thank you. I know that there are angels
on earth doing God’s work, and it has been our honor to meet four of them.
With Sincerest Appreciation"
I think these three items illustrate – "Why Funeral Aid?"
(1) Reprinted with permission from Foxfire 2, p. 322. The Foxfire Fund, Inc., P.O. Box 541, Mountain
City, GA 30562, www.foxfire.org.
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