Charges of misconduct against a former funeral director prompt a warning from the Funeral Director’s Association of New Zealand (FDNZ) over mausolea interment.
For many families who’ve lost a loved one funeral directors are the people they rely on
“The biggest thing for me is to be able to help families, even just the smallest thing you can do for a family,” says Vicky Tunai, Funeral Administrator & Director, Morrisons in Auckland.
“I find that they really, really appreciate (it) and just showing that you’re caring, you’re there for them,”
And many Pacific Islands families often come with added pressures.
“Pacific Islanders, you get more volume because families are bigger of course, and larger,” Tunai says.
“They just have needs like any other family. And I guess because I’m a Pacific Islander, I can relate a little more to them.”
Whatever a family decides, there are basically three main interment options in Aotearoa.
According to the FNZ, 2023 trends report, burials are the most popular for Pacific Islands families at around 72% interred in council cemeteries or urupa. This compares t0 27% for the rest of the population.
And while cremations are high in the wider community at 69%, just 21% of Pacific people prefer this option.
Above-ground tombs or mausolea are the least popular in the Pacific communities but they are still being considered.
“A lot of families are doing this for the first time and they’re really unsure about the process. And our job is to make you understand what is needed and required,” says Rachel Benns, a FDNZ Board Member.
She adds that those considering a mausoleum option need to know that there are set protocols to inter above ground.
“What we’re needing is a solid timber casket, usually a dark timber casket, they last the longest,” Benns says.
“What we require is for the inside, for the casket to be what’s called hermetically sealing. You basically have a metal type liner, which could either be zinc, copper or a grade of stainless steel where the deceased would lay inside there.”
Benns says once all the family viewings have taken place, the deceased needs to be taken back to the funeral home where the inner metal lining is sealed.
“I know the family, they don’t want to leave their loved ones alone and they want to view right up until the final moments of being placed in the mausoleum,” she says..
“But one of the really important part is allowing the funeral director time to be able to take the casket back to the funeral home and take care of that hermetically sealing; It has to happen, it can’t be a glue, it needs to be welded closed.”
Waikumete Cemetery in West Auckland has private and public, council owned, mausolea. It’s where the incidents where the accused funeral director is alleged to have committed, took place.
The 48-year-old has pleaded not guilty to ten charges which include misconduct and fraud in what’s alleged were improperly interred individuals at a public mausoleum at the cemetery. It’s understood all of the families involved are Pacific Islanders.
Benns says, as a result, her organisation and council has taken steps to tighten processes.
“They’ve made a lot of good changes and that will be going out to all funeral homes and it will also be part of the council requirements when you book a mausoleum and that will assure that every family that wants to go down that track will have things done in the correct manner.”
One thing’s for sure, interring a loved one is not cheap. For example, depending on where you are in the country, burial plots alone can cost between three to ten thousand dollars. Many funeral homes suggest that families plan ahead where possible.
“We have a lot of inquiries and a lot of pre-arrangements,” says Tunai.
“So if you do have any inquiries just to give a funeral home a call and you know, we can help you through the process.”
