Cremation Society Northwest

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Lorelei Hines, 64, of Kansas City, died Tuesday, Aug. 22, 2017. Services will be private.She was born Aug. 26, 1952, in Louisville, Kentucky, the daughter of Willie and Virginia Frank Mudd. Lorelei was preceded in death by her parents, and brother, Timmy Mudd.Lorelei is survived by: her son, Evin R. (Jackie) Thuman; brothers, Carson (Sue) Mudd, Raymond (Cloma) Judd Jr. and Joey Mudd; sisters, Thelma (Mark) Levret, Gail (Raymond) Davis, Mae (John) Osborn, Bridgett (Tony) Litton and Lindy (Joe) Suman; and several nieces and nephews.Arrangements: Cremation Society of KS & MO, 5561 NW Barry Rd. (816) 822-9888Online condolences: www.kccremation.com.#ndn-video-player-3.ndn_embedded .ndn_floatContainer { margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 20px; }... (News-Press Now)

But it wasn't a bereaved family he was waiting for the other day. It was a real estate agent. In business since 1900, Ewald-Barlock is set to close. The home's 66-year-old owner, who has heart disease and diabetes, will be joining a long line of funeral directors around Chicago who have gone out of business in recent years. A switch from burials to far cheaper cremations, rising real estate taxes, gentrifying neighborhoods and, in some places, a lack of parking have combined to kill one funeral home after another. By some estimates, ? Chicago has lost half of its funeral homes. More are expected to close.Barlock says he once oversaw at least two or three funerals a week, but the rate is closer to one a week now. He remembers a time when there were 15 funeral homes along Fullerton Avenue between Clark Street and Harlem Avenue, 9 miles away. Today just one, Fullerton Funeral Home, in Belmont Cragin, survives. Lincoln Park once had 14 mortuaries. When Ewald-Barlock closes, they'll all be gone.The primary cause of death of many: cremations. Last year, for the first time, the rate of cremation in the U.S. surpassed conventional interments. In 1960, before the Roman Catholic Church began permitting cremations, fewer than 4 percent of America's dead were cremated. The rate reached 50.2 percent in 2016, according to the National Funeral Directors Association in Brookfield, Wis., which projects that cremations will keep rising to nearly 80 percent by 2035. Most countries already cremate at a higher rate than the U.S., with Canada and Sweden in the 70 percent range and Japan at almost 100 percent."Twenty years ago people didn't even want to mention the word cremation," says Mike Nicodemus, the association's vice president of cremation services. "Now people want to save money over burial costs. This change is giving funeral homes real heartburn." Meanwhile, the National Directory of Morticians Red Book reports that the number of funeral homes in the U.S. has declined every year over the past ... (Crain's Chicago Business)