As the COVID-19 surge has continued to overwhelm hospitals over the past couple of months, it has also dramatically impacted the mortuaries where many of the pandemic’s victims end up.
Where many funeral homes have been left with no choice but to turn away families whose loved ones have died, Eternal Valley Memorial Park & Mortuary is doing what they can to avoid having to do the same.
“It’s soul-crushing,” said Anthony Lampe, director of Dignity Memorial, which owns Eternal Valley. “We want to be there to support the community. … Our intention is to at least be the one person that can help people … so we’ve decided that we’re going to bend over backward to accommodate, no matter what we have to do.”