By Paul Taylor, General Manager
Over my career of 40 years I have met and worked with many families and believe I have heard every reason why families choose to preplan their final arrangements by purchasing property and preneed services. Some examples I have heard are “it protects the financial growth from taxes” or “when our parents passed away 25 years ago the price of a cemetery lot was half of what it is today”. I think the best one I have heard was from a gentleman who came into my office looking to purchase a lot as he thought it would make it a little easier on his family. After discussion about his options and the services available at Woodlawn Memorial Park, he decided he would purchase his lot, preneed opening and closing fees, and his monument as well. The day came when his monument arrived. I met with him and we walked to his lot to see his memorial. Together we saw a beautiful monument with his name, date of birth, and room for his final date inscription as the monument was designed to allow his date of death to be added at the time of need, hopefully many years down the road.
We conversed as we walked back to the office together. Being in this career for as long as I have been, I was curious to find out what motivates someone to invest in their own final arrangements, so I asked him “why did you purchase your property as well as all the preneed services?” He responded “to relieve my children of the burden of having to decide where my final resting place would be and paying the service fee at the time of my need. Purchasing the monument was to ensure the children did not pay too much for a monument in remembrance of my life, or worse not spending enough!” As he said that we both laughed, and I thought to myself, he did it all for the right reasons.
We don’t like to think about our own deaths, but I’m sure we can agree that most of us like to take care of our families. Pre-purchasing your final resting place, preneed services and your memorial makes sense, doesn’t it?
Does your family know what your wishes are? You can make it easier for them at your time of need. Why not contact one of my team members for an appointment? Without obligation, they will guide you through the various options Woodlawn has to offer, including how to capture your story as a memorial.
