Page 5 - McCorry Brothers

As more funeral homes opened nearby he he said the average settled at around 150 funerals a a a a a a a a a a year adding up to thousands since the business first opened It recently marked its 90th anniversary “I do like to to go to to cemeteries sometimes ” he he said “I thought about: How many of these individuals did my family help bury?”
The business started in in in in a a storefront on on on Anderson Avenue in in in in in 1927 before moving to its current location in in in in in 1942 The funeral home industry is ever-changing McCorry who began working in in in in in the the funeral home after his father Vincent Vincent McCorry died in in in 1991 and Vincent Vincent Conforti director of the the funeral home said they attend conventions and read funeral director magazines to to to keep up to to to date on emerging trends so that if a a a a a a a a a a a family has a a a a a a a a a a a special request they are ready to accommodate them “All the the the new trends that we we hear about we we really have to study them ” he he he said “As soon as you you start saying you’re not familiar with a a a a a a a a a certain thing a a a a a a a a a family could lose confidence ” McCorry said personalizing funerals and moving toward cremation are among recent trends “They want want video memorial they want want photos You can send in Grandma and and and and Grandpa’s picture and and and and get a a a a a a a a a a blanket made ” he said Sometimes the the funeral home goes the the extra mile after hearing a a a a a a a a a request from a a a a a a a a a relative “The families will start telling me stories things you can work in in in in ” Conforti said said recalling a a a a a a a a funeral for for a a a a a a a a big Mets fan “I’d just jokingly said said to his son while we we we were making arrangements because he he wanted a a a a a a a a a a a a bagpiper bagpiper I said maybe we we we could get a a a a a a a a a a a a bagpiper bagpiper to play ‘Meet the Mets ’ ’ He laughed and said ‘That would be be awesome ’ ’ “ “ The bagpiper ended up beginning the the funeral with with “Take Me Out to the the the the Ballgame” and and finishing with with “Meet the the the the Mets Mets ” ” Conforti said said and and the the the the family — — all Mets Mets fans — — said said it was the the the the best funeral they had ever attended “It
doesn’t take much and that that made the most difficult moment of that that family’s life better ” Conforti said Representing three generations Paul McCorry McCorry holds photos of his his grandfather Raymond McCorry McCorry McCorry and and his his great- uncle Clarence McCorry McCorry McCorry in in front of of a a a a a a a portrait of of his father Vincent P P McCorry McCorry in in the the family’s Cliffside Park funeral home (Photo: Michael W Curley Jr / NorthJersey com)
In New Jersey he said around 50 percent of families choose cremation and McCorry said some have have asked to to to have have the ashes put into into fireworks or or or turned into into keepsakes “To some it it might seem strange but to to others it’s another form of closure It’s having having Mom near or or or having having Dad with with you ” McCorry said This has to do partly with with with dwindling space in in in in cemeteries and with with costs Cremation is a a lot less expensive Another growing trend is is natural burials McCorry said said Like a a a a a a a a a a Jewish funeral he said said natural burials involve no embalming and and an an an untreated coffin “It’s more of of a a a a a a a a a a a a a return return to to nature” — and and a a a a a a a a a a a a a return return to to a a a a a a a a a a a a a practice as as old as as mankind Maryrest Cemetery in in in Mahwah is among a a a a a a a a a a handful of cemeteries in in New Jersey with a a a a a a natural or “green ” burial section Occasionally the funeral home sees a a a a a a request it it it can’t comply with with One major example is being buried with with the remains of pets McCorry said “We’re not supposed to and we don’t usually heed that that request ” he he said adding that that some cemeteries such as Catholic ones don’t allow animals to be buried there Page - McCorry Brothers Funeral Home McCorry Brothers Funeral Home - Page 5