It's Weird But This Funeral Home Really Created A Drive-Thru Option For Mourners
Almost all of us have seen and been to drive-thru restaurants and other similar services, but a funeral home in Michigan is now offering the facility of drive-thru wake. Read through this week's RANDOM WEDNESDAY story and let us know your thoughts in the comment section!
By Sadho Ram — 17 Sep 2014, 04:15 PM — Updated about 10 years ago
In Saginaw, Michigan, a state in the Great Lakes region of the Midwestern US, one funeral home called Paradise Funeral Chapel has introduced a new addition: a drive-thru casket viewing option
Ivan E. Phillips, president of Paradise Funeral Chapel, 3100 S. Washington in Saginaw, just added a drive-thru viewing area
Image via mlive.comBusinesses from banks to fast-food restaurants have long served patrons by offering drive-thru windows. Now a Saginaw funeral home is offering the convenience of drive-thru viewing. Paradise Funeral Chapel, 3100 S. Washington, has installed a drive-thru window allowing people to drive up to pay their last respects.
mlive.comAccording to reports, the said funeral home installed the window to display deceased's body on a raised and tilted platform for the casket, all in a specially designed area inside the building
This drive-thru viewing area seen at Paradise Funeral Chapel in Michigan allows visitors to say their goodbyes from their car
Image via nydailynews.comThey get three minutes to sign the guestbook and say goodbye, Ivan Phillips, president of the Paradise Funeral Chapel in Saginaw, Michigan, told ABC News today. “Some people don’t like funeral homes,” he said. “They think they’re gloomy or dark. And then you have those who are in wheelchairs. I thought a drive-thru would be a perfect place for those individuals.”
go.comFuneral home President Ivan said it allows others, who otherwise might not visit the funeral home, to pay respects to the dead
Ivan E. Phillips, president of Paradise Funeral Chapel, 3100 S. Washington in Saginaw
Image via mlive.comFuneral home President Ivan E. Phillips said he's had the idea for years, but an incident last year made him turn the idea into reality. That's when an elderly woman who was in a nursing home could not make it inside the chapel to visit her husband or attend his funeral, Phillips said. "She would've got a chance to see him if we had this, so I knew we had to move forward," Phillips said.
mlive.com"Considering the elderly generation that we service, so many people are afraid of funeral homes. So why not be able to do it from your car?" he asked.
opposingviews.com
Phillips said he spent a lot of time developing the Saginaw funeral home's drive-thru in order to respect the deceased. It's up to each family to decide if they want to use the window as part of a funeral viewing. For those who do, the drive-up window is only used when indoor visitation is not taking place, he said.
mlive.comThe viewing area cannot be seen from inside of the funeral home, and the drive-thru window is covered by curtains and only opens to reveal the deceased in their casket when a vehicle drives up
People drive up to the window, which is covered with curtains that automatically open when a car pulls up, to pay their final respects. They then get three minutes to view a body on display.
Image via mlive.comThe window is actually a sheet of bulletproof glass covered by curtains connected to a motion sensor. “Basically, when you come onto our premises, there are arrows leading up to the drive-thru,” Phillips said. “You pull forward and the drapes begin to open and you will be able to view the loved one.”
yahoo.comThere’s also a registry book to sign and a memorial box for anyone who wants to drop off a sympathy card. Phillips introduced the new window on Sunday. He hasn’t yet used it, but hopes it gives people who ordinarily wouldn’t stop by a funeral a chance to do so. It will be a free, optional service for families.
go.com
There is also a slot to deposit memory items or envelopes and a place to sign a memory book. Music plays during the three-minute viewing.
Image via mlive.com