First For A Vermont Funeral By Lisa Boucher

First for a Vt, funeral
Mother watches daughter's service via Fairfax webcast
By LISA M. BOUCHER, St. Albans Messenger Correspondent
Published In The April 15, 2009 Edition Of The St. Albans Messenger

FAIRFAX—At first glance, the memorial service held Saturday for Kay Kopacz appeared to be like any other - photos of the deceased, a wooden urn nestled in a small garden of blooms, an organist singing "Amazing Grace," friends and family tearful and sharing memories, and the video equipment at the back of the room, recording a commemorative DVD.

However, while computers and video cameras have permeated daily life to the extent that their presence is barely noticed, even in unusual settings like a funeral, the Kopacz service here was a landmark in Vermont's funeral service industry.

Video equipment, hooked up to a computer was set to "go live" with an online webcast when the service started.

When 71-year-old Kay Kopacz passed away last Wednesday in her Jeffersonville home after losing a battle with esophageal cancer, her 91-year-old mother, Virginia Moore, who lives near Houston in Conroe, Texas, was not able to fly to Vermont for her daughter's funeral. That state of her health simply wouldn't allow it.

Fortunately, A.W Rich Funeral Home, owned by John Workman, was able to provide the webcast service to the family It is the first funeral home in the state to have done so.

"We were planning on flying Gram up here at the end of April, but then Mom surprised us and took a turn for the worse," said Montgomery resident Doug Kopacz, Kay's youngest son.

"Gram wasn't clear to fly yet and then John (Workman) told us about this and we thought it was a good idea."

A.W. Rich Funeral Home has been working to achieve webcast abilities for several months and was finally able to offer it to a family.

Workman utilizes the services of Funeral One a company in Michigan that provides Web-based services to funeral homes. The live webcast has been available for about a year and other funeral homes in the country have been using it for several months.

"It's a relatively new thing," said John Reed, president of the National Funeral Directors Association.

"So we don't have any hard data, less than 10 percent are offering it as a service (now). I think it will be a trend that will explode one day and within five years or less, families will come in and demand it."

The video camera is connected to the computer and the live feed of the service is sent to the Funeral One server in Michigan then sent from there to family members who have received a code to access it. The webcast is a private live feed and can only be viewed by those with the special access code.

When it is over the video is then stored on the funeral home website for 45 days for anyone who wants to view it.

"As long as it's private and not being cast out over the Web," said middle son, David Kopacz of Kentucky, about his reservations concerning the webcast. "This is what I thought at first."

Workman said the funeral home incurred several thousand dollars in initial start up costs. Special software had to be purchased as well as a camera and laptop computer with wireless access.

"You can't purchase just any computer and camera," said Workman. "It has to be able to support the program. As long as there is good cell service in an area, you can take it anywhere." He pointed out that the wireless capability did not limit the live feed to indoor services and pretty much anything was possible, depending on area cell service.

The funeral director said that the largest investment was the time involved in learning how the equipment worked and working out the "bugs" of doing a live webcast. This involved many 'dry runs,' with discoveries of no sound or some other problem. He noted that everyone had things to learn and cameraman Guy Hunter spent time working on camera angles and what to zoom in on and when, as opposed to having a stationary camera.

"It gives the service a personal touch, when you do a close up of people or the arrangements," said Hunter.
Daisy Collins, an A.W. Rich attendant, said, "John gets very involved with the family, he goes over backward. Pretty much anything goes, we've had a motorcycle, barber chair, quilts, paintings, and a dog that would not move away from the casket — we couldn't get over that dog. He just stayed right there."

For this funeral, however, the primary concern was for Virginia Moore to have a good viewing experience in Texas. Workman started the webcast early and had his secretary (who works out of North Carolina) standing by to work out any problems before hand, should there be any.

When the Kopacz family realized Kay's mother would not be able to attend the funeral, Workman felt this was the right time to launch Vermont's afterlife care into the current century, although he was a little apprehensive about the outcome.

"You just never know with technology," he said. "Anything could go wrong and I would hate for that to happen."
The family was equally interested and apprehensive about the process.

"In a way it seems kind of morbid," said Rob Kopacz, the eldest of Kay's three sons "All the old traditional ways are gone, but we've come into the 21st century and it really is a great way for people to attend who wouldn't be able to otherwise."

And Gram couldn't agree more. After the service, the family spoke with her via late 20th century technology—speakerphone. That proved momentarily troublesome when Gram couldn't be heard from Texas and could not hear the family in Vermont. The bad connection turned out to be an upside down receiver. When the nonagenarian righted it she was as clear as someone half her age and happy with the transmittal.

"We saw it all and it was very good," said Virginia Moore from Texas. "I'm sure glad to be able to see it when I couldn't be there. It was really plain and very good."

According to Kay's brother Ray Moore the family members in Texas viewed the webcast on a 22-inch monitor and it was clear and went well. They were happy with the outcome.

Hearing that made John Workman's day.

"If I were to say anything, it would be that we got to see the backs of heads of a lot of the family. If there were a two camera feed to that thing you could switch them back and forth perhaps," said Moore. "But, hey, the technology is great and as everyone was leaving mom got to see everyone's face and was able to name all of her kids and grandkids.

"There were plenty of tears right here. It was a good service."