Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - October 7, 1997, Winnipeg, Manitoba The free october 199 As an illusion of restful sleep rebel9 undertaker strips away mysteries of embalming process it is the duty of the embalmer to create a memory an illusion of restful sleep which will make the transition from life into death More Majestic and easier for family and friends to Basi the embalmer is a Ator of of pleasant illusions which will banish the traces of suffering and the principles and practice of Clarence Strub and Fredrick investigative reporter the closed door says staff a picture of a hot air bal Loon covers the window com and so there is nothing to prepare a a preliminary glimpse or a peek through a crack of whats to come As Paul Wereschyk swings open the door and flicks on the this is the Wereschyk gestures with a wave of his proudly As though he is showing off a remodelled Kitchen in his it is not his Home and not his the morgue at Wereschyk funeral services on Selkirk Avenue is the place where Bod ies More than 800 last year Are Cut drained of their made dressed up and its the kind of place almost every one will enter but Only a handful will a place where the embalmer con Jures up his there is nothing about the it is Stark and real and it takes a moment to soak it All there is no save for a faint hint of a mop and pail sit in one a Large Green garbage can in the Large and filled with various coloured Are doctors smocks hang from the most Are but a White one Domi it has a stain on the but you have to Force yourself to look at All these things because Over whelming the its very Epicen is a stainless steel the Eye wanders but always seems compelled to return to that not that its so big maybe two metres by one its it is More in the Large pan several inches deep with three Racks fixed across the gaps in Wereschyk explains its called a pathologists he Doest need to explain How it a Drain in the Middle of the pan is hooked up to a series of pc pipes which Snake their Way across the room and end directly above a toilet on this Wereschyk is using the bowl As an most other it catches and then flushes the Lifeblood of human beings into the red River via the treatment local health officials say this is perfectly Safe even if the blood is tainted with a communicable stripped of its the majesty of the embalmers illusion is almost singly Small wonder the illusionist Seldom reveals the stage but then Wereschyk is no Ordinary Hes a bit of a rebel in the funeral says Garry registrar of the funeral planning Ana memorial society of a non profit group that helps people plan simple inexpensive for one Wereschyk Doest belong to the umbrella Manitoba funeral service even though Hes worked in the local Funer Al Industry for close to two decades and has owned his own mortuary for 12 Wereschyk says the association folks made up of most of the funeral directors in Manitoba dont much care for his Price cutting and the no frills funerals he he used to be a member but quit three years ago because of differing but i dont think in a in just honest and Wereschyk i dont happen to think you have to spend to have a dignified especially when you can do the same thing for half so families who contract with Wereschyk Are chauffeured in a mini Van instead of a limousine on the hearses Are used models and there Are no elaborate chandeliers in the for Mer plumbing shop Wereschyk has converted into his funeral his markup on caskets Iso per cent is less than half Many other places in his service fees Are also lower than and in Case youre still not convinced Wereschyk int your average under consider this that hot air bal Loon in the picture that covers the window to his morgue is he likes the feeling of floating above it he when Hes not Riding his or embalming a process he says be any More mysterious than balloon Riding or they make it sound like were All working in some ancient crypt or he and that what they want you to think because then they can charge you so with a mischievous Wereschyk takes his visitor a reporter through the embalming bodies Are placed on the pathologists washed with a Hose and then surface from the embalmer assesses the condition of the body and decides on the mix of chemical solution formaldehyde is just one part which will be inject and the about 12 litres for the typical is Pound an incision is then made and a Small syringe attached to a pump is inserted into an the pump pushes the chemical solution into the forc ing the blood out through a nearby vein where a second incision has been the process can take an hour or Sev eral depending on the condition of the hardened arteries slow the process Wereschyk the blood vessel incisions Are sutured and then comes the cosmetics process that used to be time consuming but now can take just min because today formaldehyde and chemical solutions can be tinted Wereschyk All the Rouge that used to have to be applied to make a body look lifelike is almost obsolete if youve done it you almost need no cosmetics any he were taking years off Here rounding out the Caps Are placed under the eyelids and the Mouth wired to make sure both stay the body is then dressed and placed in the and that about Wereschyk not nearly As mysterious As you is it he so much for Here Are a few pointers culled from experts across North Amer Ica to keep yourself from paying top Dollar when planning a funeral shop around you buy a car from the first Dealership you went to and the same should apply to a funeral because at an average Cost locally of about not including plot and a free press Survey found a funeral will be among the most expensive things youll buy in your although funeral Homes Are not required under Law to give their prices Over the phone unlike the where its Federal local Survey found most local Homes readily volunteered the ask questions if youre looking for a traditional ask about the Cost of a Basic in the free press All funeral Homes were asked to Price their cheapest steel even if youre planning to buy a More expensive cof this number will give you a Baseline to compare chances Are if their Basic coffins Are More expensive than their their upscale ones will be ask about the service fees and find out whats for some Homes charge extra for limousines for pallbearers and others include it in the for Many Homes quote a service fee that Doest include the actual Cost of the and that can add another to to the final also ask if there Are prise deductions if you dont use some of the for int required by Law and if you choose not to have embalming some funeral Homes will deduct As much As from their service to be a body deteriorates after death and after a few an unmet aimed body is Noi suit As with anything a i coffin closed after most Independent experts agree embalming is during the free press several funeral Homes warned against forgoing saying air borne pathogens from an a embalmed body pose a health health experts say theres no if you choose to have visitation and services in your Church instead of the funeral some mortuaries will also offer a Price deduction from one Home you might end up having to pay that to the Church so Check keep in mind the Price a funeral Home quotes you for their ser vices Doest include a lot of things that will add substantially to the final a cemetery plot and Tombstone Are Dom for and those will run about and a printed obituary depends on the length of the notice and the circulation of the but expect to pay in the Range for a typical one in the free the Price of Flowers also ranges Cost you death certificates Cost each and an estate of any size will require at least a couple to add get to the whole thing and finally getting an know what you want ones youve got an idea which know what you want before you your two main choices Are traditional burial or cremation remains less costly than traditional burial but the Price difference is narrowing As More consensus ifs now the for our and not much different from Many and the funeral directors fees can at some places be almost As much for cremation As for a traditional the major decision to be made in a traditional burial is the coffin and there Are five Basic listed in their most common descending order of Price steel and cloth be wary Here sealer which have a Seal Between the lid and base of the Are offered in All types of coffins and can be up to twice As expensive As no sealed caskets of similar the Seal is often touted As slowing the decaying but studies in the have found benefits Are at Best Short the seals Are frequently broken during the burial process and there have been suggestions that Seal ing the coffin actually accelerates the spread of a number of Sti there is no such Law in this same consumer caution about sealer caskets applies to vaults and grave which can also add hundreds and even thousands of dollars to the cast of a although it is the Law in the funeral Homes Here do not have to adj Hemes surveyed Here Sam they would do so Voeur Toronj although one said a service fee would probably be added on the Range of decisions to be made for Ere Raiten is More limited direct nations the wast Baste Tyre without a Serviceman Cost under but that Cost rises dramatically defending on where you go and of you add a service and can end up costing almost As much As a some funeral for will attempt to sell you a cremation casket to be cremated along with your loved these coffins Range from simple unfinished plywood sell ing for and to coffins no ent from the ones you see at traditional running into the thousands of some funeral Homes will Tell you that you have to Purchase some kind of Container for but one funeral Home representative told the free press that the Only requirement is that a rigid Container be that same Broth ers provides thick cardboard contain ers for this purpose at no extra charge the Cost of urns locally ranges from 555 to several thousand keep in mind you dont have to buy an urn from the funeral Home doing the one final Point by careful of purchasing pre paid funeral Many Are not Eort Abseil you move away and at test two studies have found that youre Typl Sally a let belter off putting whatever Money it would Cost to have a prepaid plan into a Mutual fund or some other secure account the studies found such funds generate More than enough interest to of leave a detailed plan of your final wish the Lund will provide than and ensure you get the funeral you want without being a Burden the widows costs kept going up her husband wanted the simplest of funerals direct cremation and then having his ashes no no no Lim and especially no lavish it should have Cost his widow no More than it ended up costing More than things just kept the James woman recalled recently of the High pressure sales tactics that swept her off her the simple service her husband wanted blossomed into a service in the a full scale traditional burial with limousines and All the other trappings that drive the Manitoba funeral and it didst end there they kept phoning and phoning and she because after Billing her for the the funeral Home now wanted to sell her a for she bought the Stone for just the episode has left the woman embarrassed and much that even a couple of years after the she still did it want her name to be the funeral Home wont be identified either i Deal want All those Calls Start ing she explained lao King she says her grief her otherwise frugal instincts and the funeral Home took aver spa Selling her things she neither wanted or ;