Central Maryland funeral directors are weathering the current economic downturn fairly well at the moment.

“With the changes in the economy, funeral homes are not a whole lot different from a business standpoint,” says G. Douglas Stauffer, co-owner of Stauffer Funeral Home. “Operating costs and overhead are far greater than they were. … Contrary to what many people believe, the large profits simply aren’t there. You’ve got to be a good manager and provide good service to survive, and you can’t take shortcuts.” Stauffer Funeral Home has 6 facilities in the area, and recently consolidated their administrative operations in Frederick, to save money.

Stauffer and Keith Roberson of Keeney & Basford Funeral Home in Frederick both say families have not been cutting back significantly on their options, saying that many families have already made provisions for funeral costs. Still, Stauffer says prearrangements are starting to fade slightly at his business.

The Gazette has more.

The Baltimore Sun’s Michael Dresser asks when it’s OK to cut through a funeral procession.

George and Cassie Bailey live near Dulaney Valley Memorial Gardens, where police officers and firefighters are often buried. Funerals for active-duty public safety deaths are often miles long, involving hundreds of vehicles. It can easily take well over two hours for the procession to clear any given point.

George Bailey requires dialysis; his kidneys don’t work. He gets treatment every week, and it’s a live-saving issue. If he doesn’t get the toxins cleaned out of his body properly, he’ll get sicker, and die. Several times in the past, the Baileys have been held up in their apartment complex by funeral processions. Even when they’ve left early, they’ve gotten caught at other intersections. On one occasion, when she explained the situation and asked a traffic officer if they could get through, he refused. On another, the desk officer told her anyone she asked would laugh at her.

A department spokesman was concerned over that response, and suggested the Baileys contact the precinct captain. Dresser closes with this comment:

It’s time for a wide-ranging - and respectful - discussion between local police chiefs and the public about how to continue these motorcades while preserving public health, safety and mobility. Because if the two goals can’t be reconciled, it’s time for a new tradition.

The comments following the article are interesting, and wide-ranging. Some are pro-police, and some are anti-police. Many are anti-funeral, or at least anti-procession. How about it? Is it time to re-think the idea of processions, especially in larger cities?