When Jeri Whooley s mother, Geraldine Immediato, died in 2014, the family was able to hold a funeral service within two days at Holy Cross Catholic Cemetery and Funeral Home in Avondale.
This year, when her father, Lou, passed away on Jan. 1, she was unable to schedule his burial service for two weeks. That’s incredible to have to wait that long to start putting everything to rest, she said.
The burial delay comes as large numbers of COVID-19 deaths are putting pressure and stress on Arizona funeral homes. Across the state, beginning in December, COVID-19 deaths have spiked to far higher than summer s peak rates.