Larger-in-life clients create challenges in funeral industry

As Americans get fatter, the funeral industry is relying on new products, including oversize caskets, heavy-duty gurneys and body lifts like the Ultimate 1,000 built here by the Mortuary Lift Co.

“Back injury is the No. 1 injury in the funeral business,” Katie Hill, president of Mortuary Lift, said.

Hill has seen her sales increase by 20 percent a year for the last several years. She sold more than 100 lifts in 2010 in the United States and abroad. The lifts, which range in price from $5,500 to $25,000, can lift and move bodies and caskets up to 1,000 pounds.

Funeral homes often place panic calls to Hill when they have been asked to handle a 400- or 500-pound body, she said. Mortuary Lift can't build and ship a lift that quickly, but Hill advises funeral directors to buy one and have it ready for the next obese customer.

Americans' weight continues to creep upward. Nearly 28 percent of Iowans are obese, according to a 2009 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report. This is double the share of obese Iowans in 1990. Thirty-three states had a body mass index of 30 or higher in the 2009 survey and nine of those had obesity rates of at least 30 percent.

The funeral service industry has tapped into this trend.

“There have always been larger people in our society, but as obesity has increased, lots of companies have stepped up,” Jessica Koth, spokeswoman for the National Funeral Directors Association, said.

Members of the Casket and Funeral Supply Association of America report sales of oversize caskets have increased about 15 percent a year for the last decade. Surveys from casket-makers in the 1960s show a lot of 23- and 24-inch wide caskets, while today it's rare to see caskets narrower than 28 inches, Mark Allen, the association's executive director, said.

Oversized caskets, usually 30 inches or wider, can cost 15 percent to 25 percent more, Allen said. People who buy the slightly larger caskets may also need to purchase two burial plots.

Wider caskets help grieving families who don't want to see their loved ones crammed into a tight space, John Linge, president of Cedar Memorial in Cedar Rapids, said.

“To create a healing memory picture, you want their loved one to be in a reposed position that is natural,” Linge said.

Cedar Memorial, 4200 First Ave. NE, does not charge more for oversized caskets, Linge said. The company also is planning to add larger crypts in an upcoming addition to the mausolean, he said.

The obese deceased can take a toll on funeral home staff, who remove bodies from houses and hospitals and later move them for embalming or funeral preparation.

“I'm not above asking for help,” said Beth Teahen, 32, a funeral director at Teahen Funeral Home, 3100 F Ave. NW, in Cedar Rapids.

Women made up 53 percent of all graduates of mortuary science schools across the nation in 2009, which is vastly different from previous decades when funerals were primarily a father-to-son business. Tools like body lifts make it possible for funeral directors of any size to lift bodies in the preparation process, Teahen said.

“My father taught me not to hurt myself,” Teahen said about Peter Teahen, president of the family business. “He said to ask for help or use a lift.”

Hill, owner of Mortuary Lift, 127 Cottage Grove Ave. SE, grew up in a family of funeral directors in the Chicago area. A licensed funeral director, she decided to buy the company from her father because she couldn't handle the daily lifting required in the funeral business.

“Human remains are awkward weight to lift,” Hill said. “They are not giving you any help. Theyalso are heavier on one end than they are on the other.”

The Ultimate 1,000 uses three straps and a head support to balance the body's weight. A push of a button raises and lowers the body. The company sells pivoting lifts and lifts on tracks so bodies can be moved.

Hill relocated to Cedar Rapids in fall 2007 and was displaced by the June 2008 floods. The company has returned to the Cherry Building, where shop manager Wes Simmons builds the lifts from parts made locally.

Linge, who bought a lift from the Mortuary Lift 12 years ago, is pleased Hill is in Cedar Rapids. One of only a few similar companies in the world, Mortuary Lift “is really setting the standard,” Linge said.