The pandemic has caused death rates to triple in North Jersey. Cemetery leaders are working overtime and comforting families who mourn in isolation.
WOODLAND PARK, N.J. – Angelo Cheminto dropped his backhoe bucket to the dusty brown earth. The tines sank into the grass. The machine clawed the ground, exposing moist topsoil the color of milk chocolate. Working the twin sticks by his knees, Cheminto swung the laden bucket clockwise and dumped the loose dirt in a pile.
“I’ve never in all my years experienced anything as bad as this,” said Gary Sciarrino, 64, who has managed the cemetery for more than 30 years. “It’s just too much for us.” Story continuesThe soil above recently dug graves tends to sink as it settles. Workers must add topsoil and grass seed to fill the indentations and keep lawns looking neat.
“Especially in New York and New Jersey, many of our cemeteries are overwhelmed,” said Poul Lemasters, an attorney with the International Cemetery, Cremation and Funeral Association, based in Sterling, Virginia. “It’s all hands on deck.” “Many of them weren’t allowed to see their family member in the hospital,” Harris said. “When they got to the funeral home, there was no traditional viewing. Then they come here, and we tell them no more than four people. That’s tough to take when you lose somebody.”
“Normally, funeral directors don’t have to wait” to schedule a cremation, Sciarrino said on Tuesday. “Now we are booked. We’re taking orders for Friday.”
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