The Cremation Society of Pennsylvania will no longer sell prepaid cremations, as the result of a mid-April settlement between the Cremation Society and the Pennsylvania Funeral Directors Association.
That means customers who purchased prepaid cremation services from the Cremation Society have until July 21 to switch to a licensed funeral home, if they want. At least one local funeral home already has gotten plenty of calls because of the settlement. Notices announcing the settlement have been published in a number of places, including in Lancaster Newspapers.
Several years ago, Commonwealth Court ruled that only licensed funeral directors can offer cremation services directly to the public, and there have been a number of lawsuits since then against entities that sold prepaid cremations without such a license, said Kathy Ryan, general counsel for the state Funeral Directors Association. The recent settlement grew out of a lawsuit filed by the PFDA against the Cremation Society, she said.
From now on, the Cremation Society will strictly be in the business of cremating bodies, Ryan said, not marketing that service to consumers.
As part of the settlement, a toll-free number, (800) 436-2526, has been set up for people to call if they want to cancel their agreement with the Cremation Society and sign a new one with a licensed funeral home. If they don't do that by July 21, Auer Funeral Home and Cremation Services Inc., of Harrisburg, will honor the previous contract. Dale Auer of Auer Funeral Home also owns the Cremation Society, Ryan said.
John D. Bachman, supervisor of Bachman Funeral Home Inc., Strasburg, said he doesn't expect a lot of people to change their cremation arrangements.
But Mark DeBord, president of Kearney A. Snyder Funeral Home Inc., had a different perspective. "We're unique in Lancaster County because we're the only funeral home with an on-site crematory," he said.
"We've gotten quite a few calls," he said, from those with Cremation Society contracts who want to switch.
Paula Wolf is a staff writer for the Sunday News. She can be reached by e-mail at pwolf@lnpnews.com.
