Walter W. Piper, Jr Funeral Directors & Henderson Family Tribute Centre

05/21/2018

08/09/2014

08/09/2014

An Embalmer's Hands

God gave us hands to use for Him-to use in different ways.Doctor's use their
hands to bring life into the world and to maintain life for as long as possible.
Artists use their hands to capture life on canvas. Authors write of life with
its joys and heartaches. Sculptors use their hands to give shape to their
creative ideas.

But you, the funeral director, take that from which life is gone and attempt to
work miracles and you do.You have no life with which to work, but you are
expected to make your masterpiece lifelike.Family and friends pass by and
inspect your work-not knowing how many hours were spent-nor understanding the
agonizing heart that went into the masterpiece which you created.

You know that in a few short hours your masterpiece will return to Mother Earth,
never again to be viewed with mortal eyes. Yet, you must go on-another day,
anothe masterpiece. You cannot arise in the morning and say."I think I will
write another chapter in my book today," or "I think i'll work on my picture
today." when you arise you can say."God gave me hands and a job to do-a job that
is different from that of any of my friends."

"God gave me a special job to do. Today I am going to take that which authors
write about, artists paint, and doctors work hard to keep alive. I am going to
create another masterpiece today. Together, God and I. Yes, my masterpiece,
man's soul, can live forever. I am a Funeral Director using the Hand's of God to create a Masterpiece.

07/21/2014

Homesteaders Life Company, located in West Des Moines, IA, is a funeral insurance funding provider who helps promote and support the funeral home industry.

06/03/2014

At some funeral homes today, professional pallbearers will march--or even dance—caskets to the grave. Some charge as much as $1,400 or more for the perk. Others give it away for free, as a way to one-up the competition. John Houston, owner of the John B. Houston Funeral Home of New Jersey and New...

05/29/2014

The bodies of three young girls allegedly stabbed to death by their mother have been moved from the Los Angeles County morgue to a mortuary where officials have offered free burial services.

05/27/2014

This is a picture the military has never let anyone see until now.
It is behind the scenes at Dover Air Force Base where the bodies of fallen soldiers are prepared for burial. And that includes being properly dressed, all the way down to the smallest detail.

In this picture Staff Sgt. Miguel Deynes is making sure the uniform is just right for an army pilot recently killed in Afghanistan.

There is a very specific process once a fallen soldier is returned home.

The bodies are flown back to the U.S. on a cargo jet.
A team of service members wearing white gloves carries the coffins, covered with flags, to a white van that takes them to the Armed Forces Medical Examiner.

The remains are washed, the hands are scrubbed clean, and the hair is shampooed. If necessary bones are wired together and damaged tissue is reconstructed with flesh-toned wax.

Sometimes they will use photos, sometimes just intuition to recreate the wrinkles in faces, and the lines around the mouth or the corner of the eyes.

“It has to look normal, like someone who is sleeping.”

Once the body is ready then the uniform is prepared.
That includes putting medals in the proper order on the ribbon rack above the jacket’s breast pocket.

During the height of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan 10 to 20 bodies were arriving every day.

The embalmers often worked all night to get the bodies home on time. That can take an emotional toll so the mortuary has a large gym so workers can blow off steam.

Many say they are haunted by how young the fallen soldiers are, and by how many of them leave behind small children.

That’s why Sgt. Deynes says they are advised not to do research into the backgrounds of the soldiers.

“If I knew the story of every individual who went through here, I would probably be in a padded cell.”

The dress uniform being prepared in this particular case will be in a closed casket.

Even so, it will be perfectly tailored, starched and pressed. Everything will be checked down to the last detail.

Sgt. Deynes says, “They’re (the family) not going to see it. I do it for myself. It’s more than an honor it’s a blessing to dress that soldier for the last time.”

NEVER FORGET!

05/24/2014

My mom passed and My garandma Is Trying to get my siblings back together their dads came with the police...

05/21/2014

An excerpt from The Undertaking:
Life Studies from the Dismal Trade

A man that I work with named Wesley Rice once spent all of one day and all night carefully piecing together the parts of a girl's cranium. She'd been murdered by a madman with a baseball bat after he'd abducted and r***d her. . . . Most embalmers, faced with what Wesley Rice was faced with after he'd opened the pouch from the morgue, would have simply said "closed casket," treated the remains enough to control the odor, zipped the pouch, and gone home for cocktails. It would have been easier. The pay was the same. Instead, he started working. Eighteen hours later the girl's mother, who had pleaded to see her, saw her. She was dead, to be sure, and damaged; but her face was hers again, not the madman's version. The hair was hers, not his. The body was hers, not his. Wesley Rice had not raised her from the dead nor hidden the hard facts, but he had retrieved her death from the one who had killed her. He had closed her eyes, her mouth. He'd washed her wounds, sutured her lacerations, pieced her beaten skull together, stitched the incisions from the autopsy, cleaned the dirt from under her fingernails, scrubbed the fingerprint ink from her fingertips, washed her hair, dressed her in jeans and a blue turtleneck, and laid her in a casket beside which her mother stood for two days and sobbed as if something had been pulled from her by force. It was the same when her pastor stood with her and told her "God weeps with you." And the same when they buried the body in the ground. It was then and always will be awful, horrible, unappeasably sad. But the outrage, the horror, the heartbreak belonged, not to the murderer or the media or the morgue, each of whom had staked their claims to it. It belonged to the girl and to her mother. Wesley had given them the body back . . . it was what we undertakers call a good funeral.

05/10/2014

Walter W. Piper, Jr Funeral Directors, have always provided exceptional service since our doors open to serve on February 14th. Our quality of service and dedication have never been wavered, not since our founder decreed that we would be servants to Hamilton and Greater Cincinnati's most distinguished families, responding to their needs with compassion and care like no other. We our building our reputation as Hamilton and Greater Cincinnati's most prestigious funeral providers, and we will constantly endeavor to serve you better. That means offering a breadth of services that is unmatched and a constant steadfast commitment to your satisfaction. This is know as, " White Glove, Red Carpet, Five Star Service. " Please Call Us when you experience a loss and let our staff guild you to celebrating a life well lived. Call Us Anytime at ( 513 ) 856-9200 or visit us on the Web at MichaelHendersonTributes.Com, for a fitting farewell experience. We have complete funeral packages with metal casket starting at $ 2,995 and complete cremation packages starting at $ 995. Walter W. Piper, Jr Funeral Directors & Henderson Family Tribute Centre will create for your loved one a lasting tribute - a fitting final ovation. http://ow.ly/i/5wme7 http://ow.ly/i/5wmey http://ow.ly/i/5wmeK http://ow.ly/i/5wmfG

05/09/2014

At Walter W. Piper, Jr Funeral Directors, we have always provided exceptional service. Our quality of service and dedication have never wavered, not since our founder decreed on February 14th that we would be servants to Hamilton and Greater Cincinnati's most distinguished families, responding to their needs with compassion and care like no other. We our building our reputation as Hamilton and Greater Cincinnati's most prestigious funeral providers, and we will constantly endeavor to serve you better. That means offering a breadth of services that is unmatched and a constant, steadfast commitment to your satisfaction. This is know as, "White Glove, Red Carpet, Five Star Service." Please Call Us when you experience a loss and let our staff guild you to celebrating a life well lived. Call Us Anytime at (513) 856-9200 or visit us on the Web at MichaelHendersonTributes.Com, for a fitting farewell experience. We have complete funeral package with metal casket starting at $ 2,995 and complete cremation packages starting at $ 995. http://ow.ly/i/5vwOm http://ow.ly/i/5vwOB http://ow.ly/i/5vwP4 http://ow.ly/i/5vwPr http://ow.ly/i/5vwR4 http://ow.ly/i/5vwTa

05/09/2014

Walter W. Piper, Jr Funeral Directors offers complete funeral packages with metal casket starting at $2,995 and complete cremation packages starting at $995. Walter W. Piper, Jr. Funeral Directors is Hamilton's Choice For Cremation Services. A Lasting Tribute Orchestrated With The Greatest Care. Great service is like a symphony, with many different elements conducted together for a seamless, eloquent performance. At Walter W. Piper, Jr Funeral Directors, we have a tradition of providing sophisticated, compassionate service in tune with your family's memorial needs. Over 75 years of combined experience, commitment to the highest standards and dedication to Hamilton's and Greater Cincinnati's distinguished families work in concert to truly honor your loved one, with many dignified choices for the most refined taste. Your family deserves the finest celebration of the life lived. With the greatest respect and meticulous attention to detail. Walter W. Piper, Jr Funeral Directors will create for your loved one a lasting tribute - a fitting final ovation. CALL US (513) 856-9200 or visit us on the Web at MichaelHendersonTributes.Com http://ow.ly/i/5vvSG http://ow.ly/i/5vvTA http://ow.ly/i/5vvVJ http://ow.ly/i/5vvWQ http://ow.ly/i/5vvXc http://ow.ly/i/5vvYh http://ow.ly/i/5vvYK http://ow.ly/i/5vvZs http://ow.ly/i/5vvZO http://ow.ly/i/5vw05 http://ow.ly/i/5vw0U http://ow.ly/i/5vw1e http://ow.ly/i/5vw1z http://ow.ly/i/5vw2q http://ow.ly/i/5vw3k http://ow.ly/i/5vw3P http://ow.ly/i/5vw4m http://ow.ly/i/5vw4G http://ow.ly/i/5vw5d