Mrs. D: Costs vary from state to state. Looks like Tennessee has real bargain rates...maybe I’ll move there before I cork off just to get those special rates!
My friend just buried her husband of 40 yrs here in PA. and $10 grand was the cost. In PA. there are so many rules and regulations: big expense is there must be a concrete vault in the ground.
In NYC,gravediggers (union) get $30 an hour.
If you handed the choral director $25 in NYC, she would tell everyone you were a cheapskate.
Gee, even the altar boys get $20 apiece.
Here is a price list for a very simple funeral in Central PA. Keep in mind, there are several hidden costs (usually involves the coffin, these vary greatly in price) and there are always cemetery expenses separate from the funeral home expenses:
http://www.lastrights.info/commercial.htm
My father's funeral, though, was especially beautiful. We invited the CNA's who had helped take care of him here at home (father had qualified for a Home Hospice program under the aegis of the regional Medical Center) and he'd had a lot of CNA's because he was 2 1/2 years "officially dying". I think all of the CNA's that we invited, came: really good gals who had done a lot for my father, and had become like part of our family.
There were two priests and a deacon, and the choir, just simple and dignified and tearful/joyful. Here in east Tennessee there are very few Catholics, less than 2% of the population: I'm pretty sure none of the dear CNA's or the few old acquaintances from the Senior Center were Catholics. So it might have been their only exposure to what a Catholic Funeral Mass looks or feels like.
I think everyone was touched. I certainly was, by everyone's extraordinary kindness.