ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, January 10, 1996 TAG: 9601100072
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MICHAEL CROAN STAFF WRITER
WITH A CONSTANT DEMAND for their services, funeral homes are improvising to cater to their customers while adapting to the weather.
Although the recent snow offered workers and students across the valley a chance to rest, the funeral industry is having anything but peace.
"Let me put it this way," Hamlar-Curtis manager Duke Curtis says, "business hasn't stopped."
With a constant demand for their services, funeral homes are improvising to cater to their customers while adapting to the weather.
Four-wheel-drive vehicles, chains on tires and just plain persistence have enabled most funeral homes to make removals on time or just a few hours late.
"We were fortunate," Oakey's & Son manager Curtis Storey says. "Everywhere we had to go was fairly level and off Main Street in Salem."
Some funeral homes that were late making removals are trying to cope with the blizzardlike conditions.
"This is probably the worst I've seen in 20 years," Lotz general manager Ben Rogers says. "It's just one of those situations that you have to deal with."
Like many other funeral directors, Rogers says things are starting to get backed up.
"Some of the families haven't been able to get in to make arrangements yet," he explains. "We're ready to go, but [the cemeteries] are held up."
Hilda Basham, general manager of Mountain View Cemetery, says the snow is delaying burials.
"It's hard to find a lot number or any location with all the snow. ... We're hesitant to take our equipment across grounds because we don't know what we will damage,'' Basham says.
Unable to see bases or markers on the ground, cemetery employees are sticking to clearing off the roads. Basham says she hopes the cemetery will be able to resume burials by the end of the week.
Funeral directors especially hope the end of the week will bring relief.
"It's been very difficult," Oakey's general manager Sammy Oakey says. "We're working with over 30 families. ... We're not used to dealing with that many, but we are improvising to handle the load."
Although funeral homes have plenty of space, the sheer volume of business can be taxing on employees.
"Fortunately, we managed to get our help in here," Rogers says.
"Our employees have been great," Oakey says. "We've been able to handle things with the same decorum and tact that we treat everybody. ... We have one employee who's been stuck at our downtown Roanoke facility since Friday morning."
The unfortunate employee is Botetourt resident Robert Andersen, 20, an assistant funeral director.
"I could probably make it from downtown to my road off of U.S. 220, but I'd have a two-mile walk through thigh-high snow to my home," Andersen says.
Andersen says the snow caught him by surprise. "I thought how they always call for it and we never get it. Then it hit, and I was indeed shocked."
Andersen says his duties require him to stay overnight at the funeral home about twice a month. He slept and showered in quarters the funeral home provides for such occasions.
"We do have brand-new clothing that we sometimes use for the deceased in stock," he says.
Andersen's diet consisted of Texas Tavern burgers Friday evening, and filling-station food for the rest of his stay. He finally went home Tuesday night.
"It hasn't been that bad," he says. "It's like being married to your job."
LENGTH: Medium: 69 linesby CNB