A Memphis funeral home is bringing the convenience of fast food to visitation hours.
Yes – drive-thru visitation.
Ryan Bernard, owner of R. Bernard funeral home, said that he got the idea from another home in California. Bernard loved the idea of the drive-thru because he wanted to make sure that families who were already dealing with loss weren’t also dealing with inconvenience.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YvNnR5mPWB8
“Say a family has a visitation from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.,” he told WATN-TV reporter Annette Peagler. “We would put their loved one in the drive-thru viewing area say around 1 p.m. and they will have a drive-thru viewing from 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m..”
So far, four families have used the service.
“We’ve been getting rave reviews. We’ve had people actually just pull up to the drive-thru with curiosity. They didn’t even know the person who passed,” he said.
Bernard went on to explain that the drive-thru visitation only takes place during viewing hours and that there is security on the grounds to be sure that everything runs smoothly.
“Some people, they don’t want to deal with the hassle, the chaos of a large funeral; parking, especially with inclement weather, so that was an extra convenience for those,” he said, adding that he hasn’t had any complaints from families who have used the service. “They loved it. They loved it, yes.”