New Orleans is a magnet for cemetery traditions

November 6, 2024

by Peter Finney Jr.

By Peter Finney Jr.
Clarion Herald

With its above-ground tombs and historic cemetery architecture, New Orleans is a magnet for those around the world intrigued by the Catholic tradition of burial practices and the respect and memorialization afforded to the deceased.

But not many would have guessed that New Orleans played host last week to nearly 5,000 funeral directors and cemetery personnel from the United States, Canada, Europe and Asia who gathered for the National Funeral Directors Association’s (NFDA) International Convention & Expo at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center.

“In my career – which has spanned 45 years – we’ve hosted this four or five times,” said Gerard L. “Jerry” Schoen, community outreach director and funeral director at Lake Lawn Metairie Funeral Home and Cemeteries. “It’s on a rotating basis – almost like the Super Bowl where we get it every 10 years or so. We were supposed to have it during COVID, but we had to move it. Another year we had to cancel because we had a hurricane.”

Race through the oaks

Because of Metairie Cemetery’s history – the former thoroughbred race track was converted to a cemetery in 1872 – the NFDA used the cemetery for a unique activity. Convention-goers from China, Germany, Australia and the Dominican Republic participated in a fun run through the tombs, something the cemetery has offered for decades.

“They learned of the running road race we do in the cemetery,” Schoen said. “It used to be a horse racetrack. We wanted to do something with a little diversity, and this was perfect.”

Schoen joked that a hearse followed the last-place finisher.

“I’m prejudiced, but our cemetery has been named one of the top 10 most interesting cemeteries in the world – not just in the South, not just in the United States – by Forbes,” Schoen said. “That’s pretty legitimate. It’s because of the uniqueness that we have culturally. European things have come to New Orleans because of our lack of land and because we’re below sea level, so we do the multiple burials in a singular spot like they do in Europe.

“That’s what makes our cemeteries unique – our architectural design and the character of the people here.”

Informational field trips

Schoen is no stranger to leading field trips through the cemetery. When Archbishop Gregory Aymond was the rector-president of the seminary in the 1980s and 1990s, seminarians visited the cemetery for a guided tour. Schoen also hosted exploration tours for eighth-graders who were taking Louisiana history.

“In Metairie Cemetery, we have nine governors,” Schoen said. “I started out with the eighth grade at St. Catherine of Siena, and before I knew it, I had eight or nine schools. I love doing it. I enjoy that as much as anything I’ve done in my career because it shows these young people a different version of death as opposed to the macabre or the voodoo. Metairie Cemetery is as beautiful as you can get, and that’s a healthy balance for kids to learn.”

Among the major topics at the international convention was the growth of cremation and the impact that has had on the funeral industry.

Schoen said thousands of years ago, the Egyptians preserved the dead using naturally occurring salt called natron to preserve bodies during the mummification process.

“Embalming did not happen until the late 1800s, and a lot of credit for that goes to Abraham Lincoln,” Schoen said. “They started putting what they call topical chemicals on the soldiers who had died on the battlefield for temporary preservation. Then, embalming fluid was quickly developed. Arsenic was the main ingredient of the original embalming fluid.”

Cremation allowed

The Catholic Church permits cremation and emphasizes that the cremated remains “should be treated with the same respect given to the human body from which they come.”

The statistics across the U.S. show that about 56% of all burials today involve cremation, Schoen said.

“On the coastlines (of the U.S.), it’s probably 80% cremation, especially up in the Northwest and the Oregon area,” Schoen said. “The East Coast and West Coast lean heavily toward cremation.
By the year 2035, the Cremation Association of North America estimates the United States will be over 75% cremation.”

In the New Orleans area, cremation accounts for a little less than 50% of funerals, Schoen said.

“We’re doing a good job of educating families and having them understand that cremation is OK if we do the right things,” said Keene, who conducts regular outreach seminars at church parishes across the archdiocese. “You can still have a traditional service and then have the cremation afterward.”

It is also permitted for Catholics to have the body cremated first, followed by visitation and the Vigil Service and then the Funeral Mass, with the cremains present for both.

“All cremation is is a different form of disposition,” Schoen added. “If you are buried in a grave, you are eventually going to wind up being ashes to ashes, dust to dust. It’s going to take a whole lot longer. But cremation is the rapid form of what’s going to happen to everybody.”

Archbishop reached out

Schoen said Archbishop Aymond made a valuable outreach to the area’s funeral home directors several years ago when he asked that they help grieving families understand the guidelines for Catholic funerals. The most important instruction dealt with placing the “words of remembrance” for the deceased before the Funeral Mass began.

“So, we’re in New Orleans, and you know there’s going to be a lot of things that come up dealing with Saints games and Mardi Gras and things of that nature,” Schoen said. “The only thing the archbishop has asked is that we tell the families to be organized. You’re not coming up there and winging it, and four minutes is a long time. The main message is to get them organized, Words of remembrance are supposed to be about the deceased’s spiritual journey.”

Seminars erase doubts

In her parish seminars, Keene takes parishioners through the Catholic funeral rites and talks about “misconceptions that they have developed through the years,” particularly that cremation is not an accepted practice.

“The reason I started this was back in 2009 when my little brother died and had a closed casket, I couldn’t get over one ridiculous comment that was made: ‘How do we know that he’s in there?’” Keene said. “I thought to myself, ‘Really?’ So, if you have that mentality, you can imagine what these other questions are.

“1963 was the first time that basically the practice of cremation was indeed accepted by the church. It was not until 1997 that the urn could be present during the Funeral Mass. People also have questions about organ donation and whether or not they can donate their body to science. What we try to do is make sure the presentation is not cookie-cutter.”

Keene said such informational seminars are important because it could avoid a repeat occurrence of something that bothered her: A priest told her a longtime parishioner, who was a daily communicant, had died, but the family did not contact the priest, and the person was buried outside of the church.

“He said, ‘That will never again happen - not under my watch,’” Keene said.

Mass on Saturday, Nov. 1

Archbishop Aymond has been the principal celebrant of an outdoor Mass on Nov. 1 at 3 p.m. in front of All Saints Mausoleum. He will be joined again this year by Father Joseph Palermo, the pastor of St. Francis Xavier Church in Metairie.

“It’s truly beautiful,” said Jeanne Keene, community outreach director for Dignity Memorial, the parent company that oversees Lake Lawn Metairie. “One thing we really want to do is get more people in the seats. We’ve done a mailing to families that we have served in the last several years, and we’re getting the word out with our Facebook presence.

The fact that All Saints’ Day falls on Friday this year should lead to a larger attendance, Schoen said.
Schoen realizes the responsibility that comes with caring for families during their toughest moments.

“I started cutting grass at Schoen’s on Canal Street a zillion years ago, and I learned that we’re helping people during their most difficult time,” Schoen said. “I’m never going to take anything personally when they’re upset. My goal is to provide them with an experience that is as comfortable as it can possibly be.”

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