Having being lucky in that no one really close to me has passed away, I have little or no experience with funeral homes, and lots of questions... I'll make a list...
- Do they actually embalm/dress the body in a back room of the funeral home one would walk into to make arrangements? And is that where the body gets put into the coffin?
- If so, where does the body come from? The morgue at the hospital? Is it delivered naked (or with a sheet?) for the funeral home to dress?
- What typical staff would be employed in a family firm?
And, slightly off-topic but death-related nonetheless: burials at sea. Is the coffin watertight, and weighed down with bricks or similar to keep it from bobbing back up to the surface, or is the water allowed to leak in and so sink the coffin? Do they MAKE watertight coffins, and if so, for what purpose? And am I insane for thinking they might?
Having participated in making arrangements for both of my grandmothers, the second just over a year ago, I can provide answers from my own experience that may help you.
[*]Do they actually embalm/dress the body in a back room of the funeral home one would walk into to make arrangements? And is that where the body gets put into the coffin?
Yes, they do embalm, prepare and dress the body in a workroom area of the funeral home. Family members are not generally permitted entrance to these areas. Family members do provide the clothing and other items that the body will wear. This includes shoes - although the shoes are not put on the feet but they ask you to provide them. And yes, that is where the body is placed into the coffin. Nowadays, you pick the casket from small samples (not the whole coffin but enough to choose color, handles, etc) but at one time - and this may still be true in some places -you picked the casket from a room full of them, something like a new car lot.
[*]If so, where does the body come from? The morgue at the hospital? Is it delivered naked (or with a sheet?) for the funeral home to dress?
If the death happens at a hospital then yes, the body comes from there and yes, generally the corpses are naked. If DOA, the clothing is normally destroyed. I think the bodies are covered with a sheet or some covering; one of my cousins, God bless him, accompanied my grandmother's body from the hospital to the funeral home. I really don't know if that is standard; I tend to doubt it but he is a deputy sheriff (second in command in that particular county) and they know him. He wanted to do this as a last service for our grandmother
[*]What typical staff would be employed in a family firm?[/
Funeral directors (the people you talk with to set up the arrangements, buy the casket, etc), embalmers, and office people. I think - but I am not sure - that licensed funeral directors in many states can and do also embalm. They attend mortuary school; might be a place to look up online for more details.
I'm sure if you visited a local funeral home they would be happy to help answer some of your questions.