Arkansas Funeral Care was closed after an inspection revealed that cremations had not been performed in accordance with families' wishes. Investigators reported that bodies had been stacked in a cooler packed beyond capacity and others that had not been embalmed were lying out in the open.
Although no funeral homes in Saline County have outsourced any services to Arkansas Funeral Care, their owners/managers say they are dealing with the tragic results of the facility's failure to properly take care of the deceased individuals.
Steve Ballard, director of operations for Roller Funeral Homes, which owns Roller-Ballard Funeral Home in Benton, spoke about the situation.
Calling the situation "unfortunate," he noted that Roller never has contracted for any services with Arkansas Funeral Care.
"We have all of the facilities available for our clients … but many funeral homes don't have all of this. That's why most funeral homes are all pretty competitive when it comes to pricing, but we all want to service our families."
The lower costs Arkansas Funeral Care offered, which apparently was one of its chief advantages for families, had raised questions among people in the funeral home industry, Ballard said. "We know what it takes to operate, and we knew we couldn't do this for such low costs.
"We thought if they were able to do that, it was great, but we wondered how. This is a 24-hour, seven-day-a week, 356-day-of-the-year business.
"We have to be available all the time," Ballard said. "We're available any time of day or night, early in the morning — whatever it takes — and it takes a lot to operate.
"I'm proud of the Rollers and what they stand for," Ballard said. "That's why we did what we did when we sold (formerly Ballard Funeral Home) to Roller.
"I've been with them for 19 years," he added.
Sam Ballard, manager of Smith-Benton Funeral Home said the Smith home in Benton never has used Arkansas Funeral Care and does no outsourcing of services.
"We do everything ourselves — our own preparation, our own embalming, our own cremations. The person never leaves our care because we don't outsource anything."
Jeff Smith, owner of Smith Funeral Homes of Arkansas and president of the Arkansas Funeral Directors Association, confirmed Sam Ballard's words.
"First and foremost, this is a sad situation," Smith said. "Our hearts go out to the families affected by this.
"The people of Saline County are blessed to have wonderful funeral homes to take care of them and serve them," he said.
Smith pointed out that funeral homes throughout the state are being questioned about the controversy. "The question we're hearing is: 'How do I know I got my loved one's ashes?"
Smith said this can be taken care of at the onset of making arrangements. "You can't DNA test, so there's no way to go back. But going forward, there are three questions a family can ask that will make sure this doesn't happen again."
Smith cited those questions as:
• Who does your cremations?
• Can I see the crematory?
• Can I be present when the cremation takes place to ensure that I receive my loved one's ashes?
"When we put in our crematory," Smith said, "we put in a cremation chapel where family members can be present to see their loved one just before the cremation and remain there while the cremation process is taking place, so there's no doubt whose ashes they're taking home.
"It's a nice place," he said. "We're the only funeral home in Arkansas that has this."
Smith said question-and-answer sessions about the current issue are scheduled at the North Little Rock facility at noon on Wednesday and 5:30 p.m. Thursday.
"We may possibly have another one in Benton next week," he added.
Doug Hawkins, owner of Ashby Funeral Home, said Ashby never has used Arkansas Funeral Care for any services.
However, he said, one of the initial families to become aware of the problem at the Jacksonville facility "wanted us to handle the arrangements for their loved one."
"It is a shame that this happened," he said. "It never should have happened.
“I’m sure there are a lot of funeral homes that have taken over the services," Hawkins added.
"However, we're taking care of some of the decedents now," Dial said.
She expressed her dismay at the situation.
"I have never in my life seen anything like this," she said. "We know that we are trying our best to serve our families.