Here’s how we will help keep your funeral safe
At Wm. Sullivan & Son our top priority continues to be grieving families and those they have lost. We also are doing everything we can to ensure the safety of our client families, community and associates. We know you continue to hear and see news reports about the coronavirus, or COVID-19, and some of its effects around the world and in the USA. Our team is closely monitoring this evolving situation and are following the health guidance for funeral homes provided by the CDC.
Governor Gretchen Whitmer includes funerals as an “essential activity,” exempt from the Executive Order 2020-21 requirement that people stay at home.
Here is some information for all others who may need our services in the coming weeks.
We are still operating 24 hours a day to assist families. We offer several options for families can’t come into the funeral home to make arrangements for their loved one in person. Families can make arrangements over the phone or online, sign documents digitally and fill out forms on our website. Our funeral directors will make sure to give all the options available to families to help celebrate the life of their loved one.
Currently we will only host one visitation at a time and we encourage families to limit visitations to one day. This way we might be able to host one visitation in the first half of the day and another in the afternoon/evening, thoroughly cleaning in between. We are diligently using best practices to clean surfaces in our funeral homes, such as handles, doorknobs, flat surfaces, telephones, keyboards and stair rails.
At a visitation, please use the best practices that are widely shared with the public: As hard as it may be at an already emotional time, don’t shake hands, hug or kiss.
Funeral services are still permitted and are currently an option in our funeral home and some churches, but the state of Michigan limits attendance to 10 people at a time. We are offering the option of a future memorial service at no charge to all our families that elect to have a visitation and funeral service.
We can live-stream ceremonies from both our Royal Oak and Utica facilities at no charge.
Our Mike Lope provided some additional information in this Macomb Daily story.
We will make sure obituaries provide full information about any limits on attending visitations and/or funeral services. Please be mindful that this situation is rapidly evolving, and subject to change on an hour-by-hour basis. Wm. Sullivan & Son will provide future guidance as additional details become available. We are always available to answer specific questions or concerns at any time. You can reach us in Utica at (586) 731-2411 or in Royal Oak at (248) 541-7000.
This article was originally published on March 23 and updated on April 9
