untitled

A12 A1-A44 B1-B28

Page A12 SEPTEMBER 2017 FUNERAL HOME & CEMETERY NEWS S ec t i on A
Funeral Directors Research,Inc.
AMRA INSTRUMENT, LLC
623 N. Tower (P.O. Box 359)
Centralia, WA 98531
“the shorter the supply line the better off you are”
WEB DIRECT GIFT & PRICING
TM
®
IN THE DEATH CARE INDUSTRY
Dedicated and focused, Bill’s knowledge and experience of the
death care industry provides you with value added services
in connection with audited financial statements, trust fund
compliance audits, multi-state taxation and much more.
Bill Newman, CPA
Partner
tween her children, a silver clip in her blonde hair; andHector
Miguel Garnicka, 27, the only casket that was closed.
Mourners had white T-shirts with a message on them:
“Love Lives On”.
“Those we love are never really lost to us – we feel them in
so many special ways – through friends they always cared
about and dreams they left behind, in beauty that they add-
ed to our days…in words of wisdom we still carry with us
and memories that never will be gone …Those we love are
never really lost to us. For everywhere their special love lives
on.”
At the Mass, ten white matching steel caskets faced the al-
tar in two rows of five. The caskets left the church with two
funeral home attendants handling each casket.
Rev. Fr. Eric Tellez, the pastor at St. Patrick’s told the thou-
sand mourners gathered about the hard-working family who
saw their labors as a ministry and mother and grandmother
Selia, a single mother who kept her family close. The loss of
Selia, three children, five grandchildren and a son-in-law was
overwhelming to all who were present. Rev. Fr. Ed Lucero
of St. Philip the Apostle Catholic Church of Payson con-
celebrated the Funeral Mass. Fr. Lucero was with the family
in the agonizing hours in Payson and blessed each victim.
During the Mass, the public was permitted to share and give
comfort to the family about those they lost.
The procession of ten white hearses made its way to Par-
adise Memorial Gardens in Scottsdale where five graves,
double depth accommodated the close-knit family. A maria-
chi band played their tribute in song. Balloons were released.
Father Tellez told those gathered that the loving and car-
ing the family received from the public, from the searchers
in Payson, to those offering money to those who brought
food, prayer or just their caring presence showed the Grace
of God.
“We can even be grateful to God even in the saddest mo-
ments of our lives, this family has taught us that.”
–Fr. Tellez
Observations
Love Lives On
“Neighbors celebrating neighbors and just reaching out in
prayer and letting the family know, and the victims, and the
first responders. I can’t imagine what they’re going through
having to be there. Pretty traumatic stuff for them to go
through, so let them know we all care,”
–John Carpino, band member at a
memorial concert and vigil in Payson
On a Saturday afternoon, Russell Persinger received the
call that eventually changes a funeral director’s life.
“We have four victims of a flooding accident,” the Gila
County Sheriff’s Office told him.
Russ, the manager of Payson-Messinger Funeral Home
of Payson, Arizona prepared for the tragedy. The calls kept
coming and the toll from the flood at the swimming hole
increased to nine. Family members appeared at the funeral
home looking for information, answers or confirmation of
the worst news. The worst news kept coming.
Maria del Carmen Raya-Garcia’s 28th birthday was on
Monday, July 16, 2017. She was asked what she wanted to
do to celebrate. Her Phoenix home and surrounding area
had record-breaking heat. She asked to go north to cooler
temperatures and water. Payson’s Cold Springs swimming
area seemed to be the ideal place. The extended family of
fourteen packed up and traveled the 95 miles where they
enjoyed the cooler temperatures and the gentle Verde River.
The water began to change quickly. This gentle river
turned into a torrent. The river expanded into a 40-foot-
wide wall of debris filled muddy water.
The water came from the north. It wasn’t even raining at
the Cold Springs swimming hole. Eight miles up at Ellison
Creek the storm suddenly flash flooded the river.
The family heard a roar and had no warning.
The reports were a 6-foot-tall, 40-foot-wide wall, with an
approximate speed of 45 miles an hour hit this family and
the 90 other people enjoying the area.
The Highline Fire’s 8,000-acre fire scar north of Payson
created an area where water could rush, without living ob-
struction due to the fire, in to the Verde River. All the rub-
ble came rushing with the water – burnt logs, tree stumps
and other debris.
Four members of the extended family: Acias Raiden Gar-
cia, 8; Julio Garcia, 29: Esthelia Altondo, 28; and Marina
Garcia, 1 year survived.
Family began arriving at the funeral home awaiting
news or identifying the dead. The funeral home opened
their community room. Staff members from the privately
owned firm provided pizza, soft drinks and water.
One by one, names were learned, identifications verified
and family consoled family. There was one family mem-
ber missing. Hector Miguel Garnicka Flores had yet to be
found. He was the husband of the birthday celebrant and
the father of their three children, who had perished in the
tragedy.
The extended family was not leaving Payson without the
last family member lost.
Rainstorms continued and searches were curtailed. At
every opportunity, professionals and volunteers continued
the search for the last victim.
On Wednesday, July 19, at the confluence of the Shoo
Fly Creek and East Verde River, the last missing member
of this family was found. A family funeral could now be
held
The funeral service community, establishments and their
providers and many others, provided caring, competent
and generous service to this family.
Visitation for this family would be held Monday, July 24
at St. Patrick’s Catholic Church in Scottsdale. A Funeral
Mass would follow the next day.
As reported in the Arizona republic, “There were not
enough vases to hold all the flowers. The white caskets
took up most of the space in the center of the sanctuary.
Their photos filled two tables in the foyer, surrounded by
white gifts brought by whispering mourners.”
The Arizona Republic reported on the visitation: Erica, 2,
had a princess blanket on the foot end of the casket; Em-
ily, 3 and Mia. 5 both had flower necklaces Daniel, 7, with
a stuffed Tigger wedged between his body and the casket’s
frame; Javier Raya-Garcia, 19 and Jonathan Leon, 13, held
silver rosaries; Maribel Raya-Garcia, 24, who had her fin-
gernails black; Maria Raya-Garcia, 27, with a silver band
holding back her hair; Selia Garcia Castenada, 57, was be-
By Steven Palmer
Steven Palmer entered funeral service in 1971. He is an honors grad-
uate of the New England Institute of Applied Arts & Sciences. He
has been licensed on both coasts, he owned the Westcott Funeral
Homes of Cottonwood and Camp Verde, AZ, where he remains ac-
tive in operations. Steve offers his observations on current funeral ser-
vice issues. He may be reached by mail at PO Box 352, Cottonwood,
AZ 86326, by phone at (928)634-9566, by fax at (928)634-5156, by
e-mail at or through his website at
or on Facebook.
Funeral Home & Cemetery News
Contributors share insights and
exchange ideas. B
Elizabeth Fournier releases The Green Reaper:
Memoirs of an Eco-Mortician
www.nomi s publ i cat i ons . com
Elizabeth Fournier
BORING,OR— When Elizabeth Fourni-
er was eight, her mother and grandpar-
ents died. Over the years, she spent a lot
of time in funeral homes, since her fam-
ily members didn’t have the best longev-
ity record. Growing up, Elizabeth found
cemeteries a place of peace and tranquil-
ity. As a teen, she’d attend funerals of
people she didn’t know.
Not surprisingly, as an adult she even-
tually headed into the local funeral home
and asked for a job, any job. She landed
the position of live-inNight Keeper where
she re-
sided in a
trailer on
the far reaches of a large, hilly cemetery.
She slept with a shotgun near her bed, ex-
periencing the scariest summer of her life.
In her new memoir, The Green Reap-
er: Memoirs of an Eco-Mortician , Eliz-
abeth writes about her calling to the fu-
neral industry and how her early struggles
helped shape her life healing and minis-
try: preparing more meaningful funerals
and burials by taking care of the deceased.
As a one-woman funeral service in the ru-
ral town of Boring, Oregon, Mortician Eliz-
abeth Fournier supports old-school burial
practices that are kinder to both people and
the Earth. Elizabeth is the owner and un-
dertaker of Cornerstone Funeral Services,
the first green funeral home in the Portland
area. She is always ready to lend a hand, or a
shovel, as she routinely (and legally!) buries
people in their backyards.
Elizabeth is also the author of The
Green Burial Guidebook: Everything
You Need to Plan an Affordable, Envi-
ronmentally Friendly Burial with an up-
coming release in 2018. The Green Burial
Guidebook showcases the wild popularity
of the green burial movement. This book
will help families navigate through natural
burial choices, explaining the facts behind
this type of burial and exploring the topic
which is attracting significant media inter-
est and an upsurge internationally.
Elizabeth Fournier has already received
praise for her work as an Eco-Mortician.
“Some of us work for a better living,” said
The Huffington Post. “Elizabeth Fournier