Uncategorized – The Morte Girls

Another Well-Known Public Figure With No Public Funeral

When Barbara Walters died on December 30, 2022, at the age of 93, the world took notice. Although she had not had a public presence in some time, the death of the legendary broadcast journalist saddened people around the world. The decision to have no public funeral for Barbara Walters shortchanged so many who wanted…
Read more: Another Well-Known Public Figure With No Public Funeral
The Sad Reality: Human Composting is Now Legal in New York

It’s a sad day when legislation passes that allows for the composting of humans. It shows a lack of respect for values and traditions, and makes a mockery of the sanctity of life. This is not something that the average person wants. It’s just so much hype. We seriously doubt this will ever take off…
Read more: The Sad Reality: Human Composting is Now Legal in New York
Because That’s the Way We’ve Always Done It

Yesterday, I was chatting with a colleague I had not seen in some time. She comes from a long line of funeral directors, one of which was her grandmother, and was married to a popular funeral director for many years until his death. She’s a busy funeral director, and rarely uses social media. But she…
Read more: Because That’s the Way We’ve Always Done It
Elaine & Jimmy: A Tale of Two Restaurateurs

During a recent conversation about iconic New York City restaurants, I mentioned Elaine’s. “Elaine’s? Never heard of it,” someone said. “Never heard of Elaine’s!?” I asked in surprise about the restaurant which had been featured prominently in the opening scene of Woody Allen’s film Manhattan. But maybe I should not have been so surprised. Soon after the death…
Read more: Elaine & Jimmy: A Tale of Two Restaurateurs
What Happens To Cremated Remains Thereafter?

When a New York funeral home closed its door a few years ago, it found itself in the midst of a moral dilemma it had never bargained for. There, on its shelves, were more than 275 boxes of cremains never picked up by the families of the deceased. Some dated back 100 years. Legally, it…
Read more: What Happens To Cremated Remains Thereafter?
What You Need To Know When Considering a Home Funeral

In 1911, when newspaper publisher and journalist Joseph Pulitzer died, he was waked in the library of his Manhattan home. The room was filled with floral tributes and the furniture arranged for the assembly of mourners. Throughout the morning, family, friends, and employees came to pay their respects to the journalistic icon who reposed in…
Read more: What You Need To Know When Considering a Home Funeral
DOA -RIP

For a brief time, when I was a young funeral director, I had license plates on my car which read DOA-RIP. Admittedly, I thought they were clever and set me apart. The plates garnered mention in a few newspapers, and other funeral directors who read about –or saw–them were not amused. In fact, they chided…
Read more: DOA -RIP
Remember These 8 Useful Tips When Donating After a Loved One Dies

After a loved one dies and the funeral is over, you may think the worst is at an end. Then come the many practical matters: settling the estate, filing for life insurance benefits, transferring deeds and titles, and the often dreaded, and sometimes lengthy, task of sorting through a loved one’s personal possessions. Sometimes this…
Read more: Remember These 8 Useful Tips When Donating After a Loved One Dies
A Dying Business

One upon a time, a young woman walked into a funeral home in Queens, New York. She needed an after-school job to earn some money, while she worked her way through college, and the funeral home was hiring. She had dreams of one day becoming a great writer. Well, if not a great one, at…
Read more: A Dying Business
I Want to Watch

An essential component of our role as funeral directors is to maintain the sanctity of our work and protect the privacy of those in our care. Something that continues to trouble me is the prurient interest some have in the most private part of funeral service. “I want to watch? Can I?” It is an…
Read more: I Want to Watch

Category: Uncategorized