A BURIAL ON ZOOM DUE TO COVID-19

April, 2020, was the worst month of the Covid-19 crisis in New York. Without much prep or forethought, sometimes without even the correct protective equipment, funeral directors in all five boroughs were flung into the terrible situation of saying, “No, you can’t have a traditional gathering.” When the adult daughters of 91-year-old Winifred Pardo, ill in Manhattan with the coronavirus, phoned Amy to discuss a burial at Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx, no one at Fitting Tribute or Sherman’s Flatbush Chapel where Fitting Tribute is housed, initially knew much about using Zoom to reveal what happens at a graveside service when no one but the funeral directors were able to attend. Also, some of the thoughtful, aesthetic touches our firm is known for weren’t possible. The floral markets of Manhattan were closed. The only flowers in Brooklyn were those growing wild in back yards. So as Amy stared into her own lilac tree in full flower, she got an idea based upon what she had been teaching about the value of community involvement. Why not outsource the details of Mrs. Pardo’s funeral to the general neighborhood, where people were valiantly trying to work, cook and keep their spirits high? Amy posted to a Lefferts Manor Yahoo group, asking for the donation of backyard flowers. She also asked if anyone in the neighborhood could embroider a felted wool nameplate for the Hainsworth white wool casket the Pardos had selected. With in moments, she had answers and a lot of help from neighbors on the block.

“Funerals used to be managed by neighborhoods and communities and families on their own,” she said, recalling her decision to put up the post.

From there, things quickly fell into place and a safe burial with plenty of social distance fell into place. The Pardo family watched the ceremony with the Zoom support of Gatheringus.com and the camera assistance of mortuary student Anna Walsh.

Both Pardo daughters and all the other family members watched and were touched by the support from strangers. A reporter with the Associated Press who lived in Amy’s neighborhood chronicled the whole, beautiful thing with text by Julie Walker and photos by John Minchillo, who a month later covered the riots in Minnesota, and then was among the valiant photojournalists assaulted January 6th at the storming of the Capitol.