Teignmouth Probus Club’s last meeting before the summer break was about ‘death’ and the services provided by our local friendly independent funeral undertaker, Oliver Knapman.

In his interesting talk, Oliver answered the question “What do I do?” by outlining his introduction to Funeral Directing by his godfather Tom Clark. Oliver started his interest by working for the local Co-Op since he was 17 yrs old by valeting funeral cars, then fitting and lining coffins, moving on to preparing body dressing and learning how to ‘put on the best show’ for the deceased family before opening his own funeral parlor.

In questions from the audience, many taboos were addressed including problems arising from the recent ‘Hull Funeral Director fiasco’ with the ensuing changes in regulations which Oliver’s service were already ‘in compliance’.

Probus members were encouraged to talk about what they wanted when they ‘passed’ as so many times the family ‘just didn’t know’ what the deceased wanted. The popular minimalist of a ‘no service or ceremony’ called ‘Direct Cremation’ or ‘Pure Cremation’ was explained with the family having the option of ‘a celebration of life’ event at a more appropriate later time.   

Having thought about ones own funeral arrangements, it is a good move to keep your ‘wishes’ written down and tucked into your personal papers or will. Also, you may find that you can see your chosen funeral director who will keep your thoughts and preferences ‘on file’ for the stressful moment facing your family including benefits of fully insured pre-payment schemes.

The vote of thanks was given by club secretary John Polley.

Posted by Press Officer Rick Purnell