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Celebrating life, pre-planning are keys to funeral home business
By Lou Baldwin
Special to The CS&T
For John F. Givnish, the president of Givnish Family Funeral Homes, headquartered in Rockledge, the name tells it all. Starting with a funeral parlor opened in 1928 by his grandfather in Incarnation of Our Lord Parish, the company has grown to 30 locations in Southeastern Pennsylvania and New Jersey, under the direction of five brothers and a first cousin. He, himself, was raised in an apartment above the family funeral parlor near St. Helena Church in Olney.
Givnish is a member of Our Lady Help of Christians, Abington, along with his wife of almost 20 years, Kara Lea (Coffey) and their five children, John, Grace, Taylor, Laura and Jamie. An active member of OLHC, he is president of the parish Holy Name Society.
The Givnish funeral homes arrange many Catholic funerals but they also have funerals for people of many other traditions. “We work very closely with the clergy,” Givnish said, noting his firm arranged the funerals of the two police officers who were most recently killed in the line of duty: Officer Chuck Cassidy and Sgt. Stephen Liczbinski, both of whom were buried from the Cathedral Basilica of SS. Peter and Paul.
While some families opt to have their viewing in a parish church, most still stay with the tradition of an evening viewing at the funeral home followed by a morning Mass at a church, Givnish said. The most striking change he sees today is the emphasis on life celebration rather than mourning.
Just as the post-Vatican II Church has eliminated the somberness of the old Requiem Mass, so too has the funeral industry changed emphasis. Today, technology makes it relatively easy to put together videos and photo displays that emphasize the life of the deceased.
“My generation has the opportunity to customize funerals and the celebration of the person’s life helps the mourning process,” Givnish said.
Another change today is an emphasis on funeral planning, a specialty with his firm. “There are a multitude of reasons why you should pre-plan and zero reasons why you shouldn’t,” he said.
Other than the fact that planning a funeral in advance of death follows the wishes of the deceased rather than what survivors might think he or she would want, there is a practical consideration. People who pre-plan are apt to spend less than survivors. “All of the leverage is with the consumer. It’s a business decision, not an emotional one,” Givnish said.
While his profession puts him constantly in the presence of grief, Givnish does not think it adversely affects his personal life. “We grew up with it and it was our whole way of life. I don’t think of this as a job, it’s vocation,” he said.
In addition to his family, he keeps up a host of activities. Among others, he’s chairman of development for Men of Malvern, chair of the advisory board of Cardinal Dougherty High School (his alma mater) and a member of Legatus, the Catholic group for executives. He also enjoys golf and surf fishing in Stone Harbor, N.J.
On the other hand, his vocation in the funeral industry does impact him spiritually. “It helps me with my Catholic belief [that] heaven is forever and we are here for just a short time,” he said.
Lou Baldwin is a member of St. Leo Parish and a freelance writer.