For Funerals Too Far, Mourners Gather on the Web

New York Times ^ | January 25, 2011 | Laura Holson

[Arec Barrwin]

January 24, 2011

For Funerals Too Far, Mourners Gather on the Web By LAURA M. HOLSON

In an age of commemorating birthdays, weddings and anniversaries on Facebook and Twitter, it was perhaps inevitable that live Web-streaming funerals for friends and loved ones would be next.

It is no surprise that the deaths of celebrities, like Michael Jackson, or honored political figures, like the United States diplomat Richard Holbrooke, are promoted as international Web events. So, too, was the memorial service for the six people killed Jan. 8 in Tucson, which had thousands of viewers on the Web.

But now the once-private funerals and memorials of less-noted citizens are also going online.

Several software companies have created easy-to-use programs to help funeral homes cater to bereaved families. FuneralOne a one-stop shop for online memorials that is based in St. Clair, Mich., has seen the number of funeral homes offering Webcasts increase to 1,053 in 2010, from 126 in 2008 (it also sells digital tribute DVDs).

During that same period, Event by Wire, a competitor in Half Moon Bay, Calif., watched the number of funeral homes live-streaming services jump to 300 from 80. And this month, the Service Corporation International in Houston, which owns 2,000 funeral homes and cemeteries, including the venerable Frank E. Campbell funeral chapel on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, said it was conducting a pilot Webcasting program at 16 of its funeral homes.

[Arec Barrwin]

This can't be a good idea, can it?

[magslinger]

All you would need to keep Westboro at bay is a good pop up blocker.

[momtothree]

I guess I was raised differently. You tried to attend a funeral of a loved one... to show respect for their life and to support the family left behind. If you couldn’t make the funeral, you sent a mass card/flowers/fruit basket... something to tell the family that their loved one will be missed. I guess we’ve reached a point in society where we can grieve at a distance. I mean why dress up and travel to something so sad when we can get the DVD or see it from a computer? Just a thought.