The Night Funerals

By Sarah Artis

Mr. Finch Letchworth has two occupations that he does for a living. By day, he works at the New Jersey Hospital in Roswell, New Jersey, as a state-licensed medical autopsy examiner. But by night, he performs a special ceremony in honoring a client's departed loved one called a night funeral for anyone who comes to see him at his business residence called Finch Letchworth Funeral Home.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Jun 23, 2023
• ISBN: 9798886855029

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The Night Funerals

Sarah Artis

ISBN 979-8-88685-501-2 (paperback)

ISBN 979-8-88685-502-9 (digital)

Copyright © 2023 by Sarah Artis

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods without the prior written permission of the publisher. For permission requests, solicit the publisher via the address below.

Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.

832 Park Avenue

Meadville, PA 16335

www.christianfaithpublishing.com

Printed in the United States of America

Table of Contents

Many Waters Cannot Quench Love

Socialization Ceremony

Homegoing Ceremony

Solemnization Ceremony

Socialization Ceremony

First Reading

Second Reading

Third Reading

Solemnization for Mr. Stanley Harris Funeral

For Mr. Stanley Harris

Solemnization Services

Moments of Reflection

My Mother's Prayer

My Neighbor

Solemnization Ceremony

What Is Good?

Warren Heber's Obituary

Solemnization Ceremony

Night Funeral Hosting

Sample Third Reading

Sample Second Reading Continued

Sample Second Reading

Sample First Reading

Mercer and Marissa Polk

Socialization Ceremony

Obituary

Lovest Thou Me?

Homegoing Ceremony

Solemnization Ceremony

About the Author

Mr. Finch Letchworth had two occupations: a state-licensed medical autopsy examiner and a state-licensed mortician. He was employed by New Jersey Hospital in Roswell, New Jersey, during the day doing cutting procedures on many deceased bodies. When nighttime came, he would do his second job as a mortician doing a traditional night funeral.

Today, Mr. Finch Letchworth had to do computer work on typing about a deceased patient's past life in the way that he or she once lived. Mr. Finch Letchworth did a thorough search to gather the facts that were needed to be placed into a deceased patient's records, such as the date, time, and place that the deceased was born at a hospital. He would type on a deceased patient's records in the birth section the name of their OB/GYN's name too whenever he would type a record of application report on each deceased patient.

The other information he added was the names of the deceased patient's parents and grandparents, including their brothers and sisters if there were any in their family. It also included the deceased patient's place of residence during their childhood years. Elementary school, junior high school, and high school records. Medical health and dental records about a deceased patient.

Mr. Finch Letchworth filled in the question in his report that asked about a deceased patient's mental and eye conditions and if there was a history of a problem: Did deceased patient seek medical help for mental illness or eye problems? Yes or no?

Mr. Finch Letchworth typed on his office computer other personal information about the deceased patient's criminal background and job employment history. The very lengthy paper that Mr. Finch Letchworth completed on each deceased patient that came to the morgue was stored on his disk as his first record. He copied it as a second record and stored it in his file cabinet.

Mr. Finch Letchworth walked out of his office back toward the medical room to do several autopsies. Muscle spasms of a deceased patient lying on the medical examination table would flinch back at him, a moving hand, arm, or leg. Mr. Finch Letchworth noticed the expression on a deceased patient's face whenever he would do an autopsy on them. He would see their expressions of anger, fear, sadness, or somewhat smiling. Mr. Finch Letchworth liked to practice deceased therapy by gently massaging their face and hand. As the music played in the background, he would talk comforting words to the deceased patient. The human sense of hearing was not yet gone in listening to his words and music to calm them every time he would do an autopsy procedure on every patient. He would harvest each organ and examine it with forensic technology to determine the cause of death. Mr. Finch Letchworth respected and valued human life. He did not want anyone to die and come to him at the New Jersey Hospital morgue. But he also knew that death was a fact and certainly unavoidable and that sooner or later, it will present itself in everybody's life.

The hospital staff brought in deceased patients and placed all of them into the freezer chamber into the wall. Many of them died because of all sorts of medical reasons. Mr. Finch Letchworth, as a state-licensed autopsy medical examiner, did also have tests to see if a person died of natural causes or there is foul play involved. He wanted the families of a deceased patient to be satisfied in their questions as many come to the morgue facility and always ask him. He worked diligently with police and detectives in helping to solve a case, and he did lab arson reports too in working with the fire department there in Roswell, New Jersey.

Mr. Finch Letchworth worked with the police, the military, and morticians like himself that came in to talk with him concerning a deceased patient's past activities that they did and enjoyed when they were living. Mr. Finch Letchworth had four assistants, and their names were Butch Leindecker, Artur Martinez, Royce Biglar, and Rebecca McCollum. The four of them did their own autopsies at their own work stations. Before an autopsy was performed, a deceased patient had to be undressed and all their belongings, such as their clothing, shoes, and jewelry, were placed into a plastic bag and labeled with their name on it for material evidence to be delivered over to the local police and a loved one. After the autopsy procedures were done on every deceased patient, they were placed back into the wall cabinet with their name on the front cabinet door. A loved one would sadly come to visit with a police officer to identify a deceased patient and sign release papers for a mortician to come by later and get them within a day or two.

Mr. Finch Letchworth did night funerals. He owned a funeral home called Finch Letchworth Funeral Home, and he employed a funeral secretary who worked for him named Joyce Lovette. His dress assistants who got a deceased person dressed for a night funeral were two men named Benjamin Calvert and Milton Buttermore.

Mr. Finch Letchworth had in a very large warehouse storage a graveyard digging equipment that was needed in preparing a space before any night funeral ceremony. A night funeral ceremony would begin when the sun was set in the sky and end before the sun would rise in the sky. Whenever a night funeral service ceremony was happening, funeral guests would come and sit inside the funeral chapel and listen to a minister talk about the deceased person's past life and what the deceased did in their lifetime. A piano organist would be playing music, and a choir would be singing songs to honor the deceased person. Sometimes, funeral guests would arrive two hours before the night funeral ceremony begins and sit in the dining room area and have refreshments to eat. The ceremony would last three hours in honoring them and later transported to the nearest funeral site for another ceremony eulogy performed for the deceased person. Next, the deceased person will be lowered into the ground for their final resting place.

Mr. Finch Letchworth wanted everyone who came to his night funerals to have a peaceful and relaxing experience that they will always remember. He wanted people to see death from a different perspective. A person's soul was going back to their Maker, who was God, and that we all had enough time to be with and enjoy this person while they lived and existed here on this Earth to be with us. The deceased person belonged to God first and us second and was lent to us for a while and later taken back to be with God in his master plan for all mankind.

Mr. Finch Letchworth always performed the burial eulogy words of ceremony honoring the present life of a deceased person in front of a sitting audience that was listening to him under the nighttime sky at the cemetery. The cemetery would have plenty of night lighting, and beautiful flowers were neatly placed beside the deceased person's coffin with podium display showing them a large portrait picture of the deceased while he stood himself at the podium stand honoring them. As the funeral audience listened, everyone in the audience was overcome with very strong, intense emotions over a deceased person leaving them, to never return again. Some cried overjoyed in happiness in getting a chance to meet and know the deceased in their lifetime. A deceased client would remember her time of conception and how she received the good news that she was pregnant with a new life inside of her body. The mother would remember the nine very long months in carrying her child and the pains of labor with bringing a new life into the world. The hospital nurse would hand over to her the newborn child for the first time. Her baby's first steps. Her child's first day at preschool kindergarten along with the teenager years and college years. She as the deceased mother kept a picture album of so many precious memories.

The ceremony eulogy reading concerning the burial of an adult was finished. The night funeral audience solemnly got into their cars and went on their way back unto their own homes. The only one remained was the deceased person's mother, Mrs. Dorothy Willoughby. The deceased person's father, Mr. James Willoughby, remained by his wife Dorothy Willoughby's side. The digging crew began to lower her son's coffin into the ground. Mrs. Dorothy Willoughby walked over and tossed a red rose on top of her son David Ray Willoughby's casket and said, Goodbye, my son, and may you rest in comfortable peace and I'll always love you. She remained until the cemetery crew buried her son David Ray Willoughby and next placed the headstone. Many flowers were placed on top of his grave that so many sent to honor his memoriam. It was very much late into the night, but Mrs. Willoughby still remained and waited until the burial crew finished burying her son. Mr. James Willoughby, her husband, and herself left the cemetery with the burial staff crew diggers and funeral home night mortician Mr. Finch Letchworth.

Mr. Finch Letchworth decided to go back at the Finch Letchworth Funeral Home and stay until morning came. The next day, Mr. Finch Letchworth was already dressed and walking out the front door. He got into his car, warmed up the engine, and drove his car out of his driveway. He decided to go to McDonald's today and order for himself two bacon, egg, and cheese biscuits, one cup of orange juice, and one cup of coffee with cream and sugar. Mr. Finch Letchworth paid the drive-thru cashier named Mesha the money sum of $5.35.

Mesha said, Thank you and have a nice day.

Mr. Finch Letchworth drove his car up to the second window at the drive-thru, and a very pleasant-looking and smiling young lady named Carolyn said to him, I have on your order, sir, two bacon, egg, and cheese biscuits, one cup of orange juice, and a hot cup of coffee order to go.

Carolyn handed Mr. Finch Letchworth the food order over to him, and he was on his way to work. Mr. Finch Letchworth drove through the Roswell street traffic and later arrived to New Jersey Memorial Hospital. He parked his car as always into the employee section of the hospital morgue. Mr. Finch Letchworth sat for a few moments to enjoy eating his breakfast from McDonald's before going inside to clock in for work today. He always sometimes liked visiting McDonald's. The biscuits were soft and very fresh. The eggs were prepared just right, coffee fresh and very hot, and orange juice fresh. Mr. Finch Letchworth finished eating his breakfast. He got out of his car, a 2016 Mercedes-Benz coupe, and walked into the backside of New Jersey Memorial Hospital. One of his assistants saw that it was him and let him into the door.

Good morning, boss, Rebecca McCollum said.

The morgue medical facility was full of deceased patients that were stored in alphabetical order in a wall cabinet freezer. Mr. Finch Letchworth went into the office computer room to look up the coded numbers that matched a deceased patient's name and personal formal living history. He wanted to see which deceased patient would need an autopsy done for the workweek. He looked on the computer list about morticians this week that will be coming in today and all this workweek and be signing out deceased patients that must be leaving. Today, fourteen morticians from various funeral homes would be in to sign for the release of a body. Rebecca McCollum would hand over to each mortician today that will come in a large completed file record on each deceased patient. Mr. Finch Letchworth separated on the office computer seventy-five deceased patients that will need an autopsy performed on them. Twenty-five other deceased patients were on the list that needed fingerprinting and lab work results done for them before everything was completed. Mr. Finch Letchworth always came prepared to stay for several days at the hospital when needed. He placed an extra clean underwear, hygiene essentials, three extra pairs of work shoes, cleaner laundered slacks, and shirts that he always kept packed away for himself in his assigned locker #12.

Mr. Finch Letchworth had a lot of work that needed to be done for police and detectives that relied on his reports in hopes to solve a homicide case. Mr. Finch Letchworth and his four autopsy assistants Rebecca McCollum, Butch Leindecker, Arturo Martinez, and Royce Biglar worked very long hours. To keep everybody awake during the night, they listened to the music and took twenty-minute coffee breaks in their breakroom. The morning came, and the four assistants, Rebecca McCollum, Butch Leindecker, Arturo Martinez, and Royce Biglar, clocked out for a while to get some rest. The crew worked tirelessly for thirty-seven long hours. The four of them went to their own hospital room to shower and get some sleep. They were replaced by six other employees who worked a few doors down from them in the morgue, namely Carla Henson, Debra Reaves, La Shondra Coleson, Marianna James, Joe Dode, and Son Bobby Johns who always helped Mr. Finch Letchworth. Carla Henson knew Mr. Finch Letchworth's office style of working concepts, and she always followed his work of rules and guidelines in office procedures.

Mr. Finch Letchworth clocked out for a while to go and take a warm, soothing shower in his hospital room and get some rest before reporting back to work tonight. Mr. Finch Letchworth awoke from the sound of his set alarm clock. He arose, get out of his bed, made it up, and got himself dressed, and he went down the hallway in front of the hallway morgue ground floor. The elevator door opened for him to step into it. The ground floor elevator transported him to the first floor. He walked to the very crowded cafeteria of people eating. He placed a food order selection of meatloaf, mashed potatoes, string beans, corn, sweet apples, one slice of spiced cake, and a large glass of sweet tea. He paid for his food on his tray with the hospital clerk cashier named Ms. Molly and walked out of the line carrying his food tray. He found for himself a table, and he sat down and prepared to eat. Many people in the cafeteria were talking all around him as he was eating. Some stayed for a longer time to finish eating their meal. Others finished their meals much quickly and left their tables. Mr. Finch Letchworth got up from his table and tucked his chair under the table before walking over to carry his tray and place it on the food tray rack before leaving the cafeteria. He walked out of the cafeteria and stepped back into an elevator that would take him back down to the ground floor morgue. Mr. Finch Letchworth entered the morgue facility and were greeted by his four personal assistants, Rebecca McCollum, Butch Leindecker, Arturo Martinez, and Royce Biglar, as they all smiled and spoke to him. Mr. Finch Letchworth put on his autopsy outfit and his blue rubber gloves before he would go to the cabinet fridge to select a deceased that was on his list for him to do an autopsy. The deceased patient was carried on the carted table on four wheels and lifted with a lifter machine and placed on Mr. Finch Letchworth's autopsy table. Mr. Finch Letchworth uncovered his deceased patient and began using his autopsy utensils to dissect the deceased patient's brain and eyes and examine the nose, ears, hair, and scalp for lab work analysis. He next went to take out the left and right lungs, their stomach intestines, the left and right sides of the kidneys, and the left and right side of the brain. Each organ must be studied under the microscope, and fluid taken from all of them for lab work analysis was documented on a deceased patient's permanent record. Mr. Finch Letchworth scanned the skin, fingernails, and toe nails and took out the tongue and teeth with gums for lab work to be done. Everything concerning the deceased patient was picture taken by the computer scanner, labeled in a picture by it to be stored in its memory for future data. Mr. Finch Letchworth worked during the day putting a completed deceased patient's body back into the cold freezer wall cabinet and taking out a new deceased patient. Each time he did an autopsy, he would mark over a deceased patient's name the words completed so everyone in their group will know that job was finished. It was time for a twenty-one-minute coffee break. Mr. Finch Letchworth kept on working and asked Rebecca McCollum and Butch Leindecker if the two of them were now ready to go on their twenty-minute break? Both said yes and they left their work stations. Mr. Finch Letchworth asked Arturo Martinez and Royce Biglar if the two of them wanted next to go on their twenty-one-minute break when Rebecca McCollum and Butch Leindecker returned from their break. Both guys said yes. Rebecca McCollum and Butch Leindecker returned from their break time for twenty-one minutes. Arturo Martinez and Royce Biglar left their workstation to go on their breaks. Mr. Finch Letchworth passed on his break time to keep working. It was very late in the evening, and everyone wanted dinner from the cafeteria. Arturo Martinez and Royce Biglar volunteered to go upstairs and get bagged lunches for everyone. Royce Biglar got out his notepad and asked Rebecca McCollum what she would like for her tonight's dinner. Rebecca looked on the hospital menu and selected for herself a grilled chicken breast on a bun, a small bowl of veggie soup, and five lemon cookies. Butch Leindecker wanted three hot dogs with ketchup and chili. Arturo Martinez wanted two large burgers with French fries. Royce Biglar selected for himself