CUMBERLAND – Even as the COVID-19 pandemic has now stretched on over a month in Rhode Island, not being around loved ones is already a challenge individuals are adapting to.
But when a family loses a loved one, restrictions on crowd sizes to limit the spread of the virus greatly limits the opportunity for close friends and family members to offer their respects and final goodbyes, and the grieving process becomes even more difficult for families to handle.
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[The funeral] is essential to the grief process,” Jeffrey Bernardo, funeral director for J.J. Duffy Funeral Home, told Providence Business News Wednesday. “… You want to be surrounded by people who cared about that person and care about you.”
Knowing that families wouldn’t be able to physically have a normal funeral service, Bernardo said he knew he had to do something.
He turned to a close friend, the Rev. Peter J. Gower at Our Lady of Grace Church in Johnston, who broadcasts his weekend services over the radio.
“I said to myself, he’s using that method to communicate to his parish community, why can’t my families do that with their families,” Bernardo said.
After a couple of minor equipment purchases by Bernardo, J.J. Duffy Funeral Home now offers families the option to have their services broadcast over the radio. Bernardo said he purchased a headset that produces a short-wave broadcast of about 300 yards in any direction. The headset can be set to any FM radio frequency – J.J. Duffy has it set at 87.9 FM – allowing people to hear the signal at the funeral home or during a grave site service.
Depending on the families’ preference, families can either still have their private services held inside the funeral home while mourners can listen from their vehicles in the parking lot or they can bring the services outside to the parking lot. Recently, Bernardo said J.J. Duffy held two outdoor funerals, complete with eulogies and pastors overseeing the services, in front of more than 30 vehicles filled with family and friends in the parking lot before going on the traditional procession to the grave sites.
Bernardo said he wants to offer families as many options as possible during this period in lieu of having to make difficult choices – such as whether or not to wait several months in order to honor their loved ones.
“The difference between my funeral home and every other funeral home is that I’m giving them the option when they didn’t have one before,” he said. “It’s great that they can make, in a difficult time, the best decision that suits their family.”
Bernardo said J.J. Duffy had to change some of the other normal operations in funeral planning. In addition to doing daily sanitizing inside the funeral home, funeral planning with families is now being done virtually, mainly to protect staff in case any individual has been exposed to the virus.
J.J. Duffy’s staff have received positive feedback from families, Bernardo said, saying they appreciate J.J. Duffy’s attempts to offer some normalcy during a time that is anything but normal, as well as the funeral home’s efforts to keep the public safe during the pandemic.
“They appreciate the fact that we’re trying to provide them the tools they can use to try and figure out a way to honor their loved one in such a difficult time.”
Providence Business News is spotlighting nonprofits, companies and workers stepping up to challenges presented by the spread of the new coronavirus.
James Bessette is the PBN special projects editor, and also covers the nonprofit and education sectors. You may reach him at Bessette@PBN.com. You may also follow him on Twitter at @James_Bessette.
