I haven't been to a lot of funerals but I know when my father died we had the whole big funeral at the church, then went to cemetery and had a short service there prior to lowering the casket into the grave. I often see long lines of cars driving behind the hearse with their lights on traveling to the cemetery where they have another short service.
I don't know what the "standard practice" is but in my experience, yes there is usually a short grave side service.
Mormons can do what they want for funerals. A lot go with a standard chapel service that can get hijacked by the local leaders and turned into a reactivation meeting, but I've been to a wide variety, including just a graveside service.
They may be doing the entire funeral there at the grave site too instead of at the chapel.
And how do you know he's was "mega" TBM. Do you know him?
Bottom line....who cares what kind of funeral he has? TBM or not?
He appears to have been just fifty or so, so his death may have been accidental. I would say a short graveside only service is unusual. It could also reflect a suicide. I hope not.
I have told my children I don't wish to be buried via a LDS chapel. I don't want "The Plan of Salvation" presented to my non-member family. A backyard celebration of life only, with balloons for the grandkids.
All thru the obit, the deceased, Kevin Hiatt, is referred to in the past tense, e.g., he attended such-and-such school, he was employed by ABC, he had a love for nature, loved the gospel, etc.
Except in this sentence, he is referred to in the present tense: "Kevin is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints."
You're right. That is strange. Right there in the same paragraph, it says he IS a member of the church, but he WAS a disciple of Christ. Hmmm...I sure hope it's a typo, but I'm guessing it isn't.
In my experience, I have only ever known one person who didn't have a funeral even though they were TBM. And this was a case of a 90+ year old great aunt. She'd left instructions that she didn't want a funeral and she didn't want to be embalmed, so after a quick family get together at her home (where her body could be viewed while laying on her bed), they put her in the ground the next day. Mormons can have any kind of funeral that they want, but my guess is that this man left instructions before his death that he didn't want a funeral. That's usually why funerals don't happen, per the wishes of the deceased.
Graveside services aren't unusual for TBMs, but they usually happen after the funeral. They include dedication of the grave as well as a few words by family or friends, maybe a song of some kind and the family putting flowers on the casket.
Most of the LDS funerals/viewings I've attended have included a viewing the night before the funeral, a short viewing in the morning, a funeral service in a chapel with several speakers and musical numbers, and a very short service at the graveside (usually just a longish prayer).
But of course all of this is left up to the family or the wishes of the person who died. My dad's first cousin passed away a couple weeks ago. They didn't have a viewing at all because that was her wish that she had told her family. Apparently there were a lot more people than usual at the actual funeral, since they wanted to pay their respects but didn't have the option of dropping in at the viewing.
I was really concerned when my mother died that my not-so-TBM father would have it at the church, but he said, "Your mom wanted just a graveside service"--which is what she and I talked about a lot (that is all I want, too). It snowed, so we had it at the mortuary. It was short and not very much preaching. My dad's was the same. It may have been a personal preference of the guy's. My mother and I are both people who don't like a lot of attention. I've told my kids a graveside service with only the very closest of friends and family there.
What struck me was that according to the obit, "Family always came first for Kevin" yet in the obit Golf and TSCC came before family. To me, it read as if the "Family always came first for Kevin" line was added as an afterthought.
Also, the guy worked full time had multiple callings and played golf, when did he have time to place his family first?
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/22/2010 04:05PM by MJ.
My grandmother sternly instructed my mother that she didn't want a funeral, just a graveside service. The bishop spoke for about 10 minutes, I dedicated the grave and we all said goodbye.
Me? I just want to be cremated and my ashes put in a coffee can and scattered somewhere.
There could be be other reasons but that would be the most likely one, anything else would be speculation. There is no problem with that kind of service in the LDS Church.
No disrespect intended for the deceased but being LDS and having the "True plan of happiness" and the only troo plan of true salvation( yeah right)... I wonder. By reading the obit I think he may have taken his own life. The reason I posted was I see so much unhappiness and loss of hope in the TSCC. Suicide is a deep ugly secret that society does not talk about that much. Again I am speculating but it does appear that way to me. I had a 2 LDS friends ( fathers) that took that path. I'm still wondering why? So many on the verge it seems. In my opinion the Church is broken,their promises fall flat. that's all I'm getting at... The whole post is just my observation.
from the article: engineer with the LDS Church. learning were always important to him. Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He loved the gospel disciple of Jesus Christ. He was the High Priest Group Leader, and was very diligent in serving others, a home teacher, as well as in his other callings and, responsibilities. He was sealed to Jeanne W., Salt Lake Temple, on August 31, 1981., Family always came first . He was an example of strength to everyone around him.