I work for a National Cemetery. I noticed that back in the 70s & 80s (my cemetery opened in 78 so I don’t have older data) people would die and be buried a day or two later. Nowadays, it seems like somebody gets buried anywhere between 5-12 days after they die. Why is this process longer than it used to be?
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It’s actually mostly a cultural change. After all, we have been embalming the deceased for over a century. Abraham Lincoln’s body took a weeks long train tour of the states before he was interred. The advent of refrigeration and the advancement in efficiency (making it cost effective) also helped lengthen the time between death and the beginning of decay. Which gave more time for the embalmer to work. However at this point it’s just a matter of society accepting we have time to plan and grieve before the deceased is burried.
There are still some cultures that require a burial in the first 24 hours after death like orthodox Judaism. Even still modern practice does allow for some time more for the family to arrive for the funeral, as long as the deceased is burried in as short a time as possible.
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