December 2020

Page A12 DECEMBER 2020 FUNERAL HOME & CEMETERY NEWS Se c t i on A www. vischerfuneralsupplies.com Funeral Home in New York. The location of his cre- mated remains is known only to his wife. When police arrived back at the Dakota, after John Lennon had been transported, they found Mark David Chapman sitting on a curb reading J. D. Salinger’s 1951 novel, Catcher in The Rye . Chapman told Barbara Walters in an ABC interview, that “By shooting John Lennon, I would acquire his fame.” When Chapman was given a chance to make a statement at his trial, he explained the connection to Catcher in the Rye . Holden Caulfield imagines children running through a field of rye toward an unforeseen cliff. Chapman saw himself as the savior. “I mean if they’re running and they don’t look where they’re going, I have to come out from somewhere and catch them. That is all I’d do all day. I’d just be the catcher in the rye.” Chapman fully confessed to the shooting and is serving twenty years to life. In August 2020, he had his latest parole hearing and was turned down for the 11th time. John Lennon had no funeral services, per the request of Yoko Ono. When people in intense grief are denied an op- portunity to mourn, they create their own. A movement was created to remember John Lennon. A 2.5-acre spot, at Central Park and adjacent to Lennon’s home of the Dakota Apartments was designed to capture a peaceful area to reflect on his life. It was dedicated on Octo- ber 9, 1985, his 45th birthday. There are elm trees, shrubs, and flowers. The most visited spot is the black and white mosaic display with the word “Imagine.” It was designed to deliver a message of a “world without strife, war or conflict.” 120 countries donated flowers and money for perpetu- ation of the area. Funerals are not always religious events that take place in a chapel or church, days after the death. They may be an even- tual gathering of people to remember their lost person, such as the committee who designed the park or the millions that have visited it since, to express their grief. “The death of a loved one is a hollowing experience. After 39 years, Sean, Julian and I still miss him. Imagine all the people living life in peace.” –Yoko Ono Observations Living on borrowed time Without a thought for tomorrow –John Lennon A song written in Bermuda in 1980, this was inspired in the reggae spirit of Bob Marley’s “Hallelujah Time.” Lennon felt that he “was living on borrowed time, what we’re all do- ing, even though most of us don’t like to face it.” On December 8, 1980, 40 years ago, amateur photog- rapher Paul Goresch waited outside the Dakota apart- ment building in New York City, to photograph John Len- non. The two had become acquaintances as Goresch never pushed beyond a photo and a greeting. This night he stood and waited alongside 25-year-old Mark David Chapman who wanted to meet Lennon. At 5PM, Lennon and Yoko Ono arrived at the Dakota and Ono went inside while Lennon was returning to the studio. Chapman asked for an autograph and Lennon kindly signed his Double Fan- tasy album while Goresch photographed the moment. Five hours later, Lennon returned home. Chapman was waiting. Five shots rang out from Chapman’s gun, four finding their target causing fatal wounds, and a musical legend was dead. From Liverpool and the founding of the Quarrymen in the 50’s, to forming the Beatles in 1960, John Lennon was a prime mover of the Beatles’ spectacular rise, but also of the disillusion of their memorable musical group. John Lennon was an enduring musician and composer. In the 70’s, Lennon became a stay at home dad to his son Sean. He enjoyed his days at his and Yoko’s apartment at the Dakota. He told Pete Hamill for New York Magazine : “What is it I’m doing?” “What do you want to be? What are you looking for?” However, during that time, he was being observed by the F.B.I. for his anti-war beliefs and friendships with those con- sidered antagonists to the government. There were attempts to deport him. He was not charged with any crimes. A restless musician and composer, he created the Double Fantasy album with wife Yoko Ono. Three weeks after the album’s release, he was dead. A native of Fort Worth, Texas, Mark David Chapman, had a less than happy home. His father, David Curtis Chapman, an Air Force Sergeant, was distant to him, allegedly physically abused his mother. Mark was plump and bullied as he was not a natural athlete. He allegedly used drugs in high school. By Steven Palmer He met a girl, Jessica, and with her help, he converted to Christianity and lived his faith. Chapman, a graduate of Columbia High School in Deca- tur, Georgia, collected Beatles albums. He was involved with the YMCA internationally and went to Beirut as a Camp counselor, barely escaping the Lebanese Civil War, and re- turned to Fort Chafee, Arkansas to help refugees. Chapman moved to Hawaii and applied for a Hawaii driver license in 1977. He was admitted to the Harold Castle Me- morial Hospital at the foot of Koolau Mountains. This psy- chiatric hospital accepted him as he claimed to be suicidal. He was at peace there and performed maintenance duties and worked in their printshop. After leaving the hospital, he lived in the Aikahi Gardens in Kaneohe. His since divorced mother came to visit. Chapman met a Japanese American woman, Gloria Abe. Their relation- ship grew and they were married on June 2, 1979. He became more controlling over his wife and changed jobs. In October 1980, Chapman bought a 38 caliber Char- ter Arms revolver. It cost him $169 and $35 extra for a special rubber grip at J & S Sales, Ltd in Honolulu. He headed for New York, first checking into the YMCA for a $16.50 a day room. He later moved to the Sheraton Centre, Room 2730 at $82 a night. OnDecember 8, he left his room to wait outside Lennon’s apart- ment building. At 5:00 PM, he signed the album for Chapman and left to go back to studio. His limousine returned him to the Dakota at 10:50 PM, where Chapman was waiting. John Lennon was entering the stone archway entrance when Chapman stepped out behind him, pulled out his 38-caliber handgun, got into a combat stance and fired five shots, four of them hitting Lennon. The musician staggered a few steps to the gate house and col- lapsed. The doorman helped John Lennon to the ground and asked the shooter, “Do you know what you have done?” Chapman answered, “I shot John Lennon.” New York Patrolmen John Moran and Bill Gamble arrived and realized they would save precious time by taking him to the hospital. There was extraordinarily little hope of survival with four bullets in the back. The doctors at Roosevelt Hospital did all they could to save Lennon. They opened his chest and massaged his heart, but the musician was gone and there was no physical rescue pos- sible. Death was called at 11:15 PM. The media descended on the hospital, wanting any sala- cious detail about Lennon’s death or the reaction and con- dition of Yoko. He was cremated by the venerable Frank E. Campbell Borrowed Time Steven Palmer entered funeral service in 1971. He is an honors graduate of the New England Institute of Applied Arts & Sciences. Hehasbeenlicensedonbothcoasts,heownedtheWestcottFuneral Homes of Cottonwood and Camp Verde, AZ, where he remains ac- tive in operations. Steve offers his observations on current funeral serviceissues.HemaybereachedbymailatPOBox352,Cottonwood, AZ 86326, by phone at (928)634-9566, by fax at (928)634-5156, by e- mail at steve@westcottfuneralhome.com or through his website at www.westcottfuneralhome.com or on Facebook. FUNERAL HOME & CEMETERY NEWS www.nomispublications.com Monthly Columns online at Carriage Services announces Record Third Quarter Results; increases Dividend HOUSTON,TX— Carriage Services, Inc . (NYSE: CSV) announced results for the third quarter and nine months ended September 30, 2020. Mel Payne , Chairman and CEO, stated, “On Febru- ary 19, 2020, we announced our annual theme for 2020 as Transformative High Performance and the beginning of the five-year timeframe of Carriage’s Good To Great Journey Part II. We also introduced our Milestone Three Year Scenario reflecting Carriage’s performance trans- formation by year through 2022. Then the Coronavirus Pandemic came to America and spread across our port- folio with accompanying government lockdown restric- tions about how we conduct our business, severely im- pacting the very social nature of our work. “On March 29, 2020, I began to write my 2019 Share- holder Letter which was much more about the Coronavirus Pandemic Crisis and its 2020 performance impact in which I said, “Obviously, we will not achieve our 2020 “Roughly Right Ranges” of performance given that large parts of our portfolio are currently operating under the severe restric- tions imposed by a majority of states for an extended pe- riod of time.” The last six months have been a remarkably historic performance period for Carriage, as indeed we did not achieve our 2020 “Roughly Right Ranges” but instead accelerated into 2020 many of the much higher transfor- mative performance milestones from 2021 and even 2022.” Carriage Services also announced that its Board of Di- rectors on October 27, 2020 increased its quarterly divi- dend to 10¢ per share and subsequently declared a quar- terly dividend payable on December 1, 2020 to common share record holders as of November 9, 2020. This cancels the previous dividend declaration on October 21, 2020. Carriage Services is a leading provider of funeral and cemetery services and merchandise in the United States. Carriage operates 180 funeral homes in 27 states and 32 cemeteries in 12 states. Your Real Source. Anywhere. Anytime.