TFA offers funeral preparation advice

By DAVID LOPEZ
editor@sbnewspaper.com

Preparation station
Pictured is the San Benito Funeral Home located on the corner of Williams Street and Business 77. (Photo by David Lopez)

As reported last week, funeral homes across Cameron County are experiencing backlogs due to an increasing number of deceased individuals, presumably from COVID-19.

Jose L. Morales, Resaca City resident and former San Benito Economic Development (EDC) President, who is also the founder and president of Texas Funeral Associates, representing all privately owned funeral homes from Roma to Brownsville, said the effect he is seeing is dire.

Apart from the emotional weight a death causes a family, he said the financial burden is also a major stress. Still, there is something families can do about the latter.

“In the Hispanic community, we think of preparing for a funeral as taboo,” Morales said. “When you bring it up, people will say ‘Do you want me to die already?,’ but I don’t think we have been actually informed of how easy it is to take care of it.”

Texas Funeral Associates offers pre-arranged funerals and cremation arrangements, something Morales says is a better option to lessen the financial burden families experience at the hands of sudden death.

“An average funeral in the Valley, with cemetery property headstone and funeral services, can range anywhere from 12 to 14 thousand dollars and beyond,” said Morales.

Furthermore, Morales said that a funeral doubles in value every five to seven years.

“As a culture, we are used to passing the hat around because Hispanics have tight families, but sometimes they can’t pull together. They might get $100 from a member here, another hundred there,” Morales said.

Morales advised that families prepare with a pre-arranged funeral ahead of time.

Editor’s note: This article has been edited for length. To read the full story, click here or make sure to grab a copy of the Aug. 7 – 13, 2020 issue of the NEWS.

For more information on pre-arranged funeral services in the Valley, call Texas Funeral Associates at 956-832-2020.

Permanent link to this article: https://www.sbnewspaper.com/2020/08/07/tfa-offers-funeral-preparation-advice/

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