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Gately Community Connections | |
| For Our Community of Caregivers |
August 2010 |
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  To Improve the Life of a Child
Gately Funeral Home is proud to participate in the York Children's Foundation which was established in 1992 to disburse funds to non-profit organizations that work for the benefit of children. Since its inception, more than $3 Million has been given as grants to a variety of civic organizations.
Here's how the program works. A donation is made to the York Children's Foundation in memory of a loved one following a family's purchase of a Matthew's Company casket from Gately Funeral Home. These donations are then dispersed through a grant program to organizations across the country that have programs benefitting children. Examples of past grant recipients include children's camps, museums, hospitals, homeless shelters, grief support centers, and mental health programs.
Here's how you can help. Gately Funeral Home is asking for members of its care-giving community to nominate a local charity, civic organization, or program as a potential grant recipient. We will contact the organization and help them to complete the grant application. Gately Funeral Home will sponsor the organization by writing a letter to the York Children's Foundation, indicating why the organization deserves the grant and how it helps children in the community.
The charity you nominate must be tax exempt. They must have a 501(c)3 designation from the IRS and a completed IRS Form 990 or 990EZ. Grants are awarded quarterly and range from $500 up to $3,000! The York Children's Foundation Board of Trustees review and votes on the award winners. There are no guarantees, but you can get the ball rolling by simply nominating a tax exempt, 501(c)3 organization. We'll contact the charity and continue the process!
Simply contact us at Gately Funeral Home by emailing us at gatelyfuneralhome@comcast.net. Tell us your name and contact information, the name of the organization you are nominating, a contact person and phone number. Most importantly, write two or three sentences on why you believe this organization is deserving of a grant.
We'll report the progress in our next newsletter! Together, we will make a difference in the life of a child!
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 Planning Ahead Satisfies Different Needs for Different People
You have probably planned for a lot of important events in your life. We plan ahead because we want to make sure a particular event turns out the way we want without causing undue stress. And this same smart reasoning applies to funerals as well.
Planning ahead provides peace of mind for several reasons: Those who are nearing or are in early retirement oftenwant to finalize their retirement plans and include funeral arrangements as part of their overall strategy.
Advance funeral planning also helps to alleviate the concern that family members will be burdened with making difficult decisions in the midst of profound grief, while ensuring that your wishes are known and can be carried out with dignity and respect, and without guesswork on the part of surviving family members. Preplanning and funding a funeral is also helpful for those concerned with Medicaid planning, as the monies set aside in a properly structured funeral trust are not usually counted as an asset if one enters a nursing home. Additionally, many funeral homes make an inflation-proof guarantee on goods and services that are pre-paid.
"One big advantage of planning your funeral in advance is that the process puts you in control and ensures that your wishes will be known and respected," said Judith Clark, attorney with Sullivan & Clark, Attorneys at Law, in Melrose. "This can be especially important if you want to consider cremation. There are also financial implications that can affect you I the short-term as well as in the future, especially where Medicaid may be concerned. It is important to discuss these issues with a professional," she added.
The first step to preplanning is easier than you might think. A funeral director will be happy to sit down with you and whatever family members you'd like to include in the discussion to help you choose the type of service that is right for you, and plan the details so no one will have to guess what you would have liked. There are so many options available today, and your funeral director will be able to answer your questions about types of services, burial vs. cremation, visitation options and the opportunities for personalization and commemoration.
Kathleen Buckley and her sister Maura cared for their aunt, Rose Walker until her death at age 92. "We went to see John Gately about two years before to pre-arrange Aunt Rose's funeral. "We had had many discussions with her and we knew what she wanted when her time came," Kathleen said. "Because we had done all the arrangements ahead of time, when Aunt Rose died, we didn't need to worry about a thing." Rose Walker was a WWII Veteran who served as a Marine. "She lived in Japan for 40 years after the war and worked for the Department of the Army as a civilian," said Maura. "She was quite a woman and she would have been very happy to know that John Gately followed her wishes to the letter; he was great."
As John Gately explains,"Getting started may be difficult because we all tend to procrastinate. But when the advance planning is done, people tell me they are so relieved ... it gives them a feeling of freedom. Later, when death occurs, the emphasis shifts from making arrangements to focusing on the person and the memorable experience the family can create to celebrate their loved one's life."
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FAQ: What should a person do if a loved one dies while away from home?
We are living in a society that is "on the move." Business trips, vacations to places out of state or out of the country, job transfers, and retirement to locations "away from home" are commonplace.
What should you do if a loved one dies while on a trip?
The first important step is to call your hometown funeral director. This should be done regardless of where or when the death takes place. Your hometown funeral director will know exactly what to do and can offer valuable counsel in assisting your family to meet the immediate needs of the emergency. He or she can also help eliminate any unnecessary expense.
At Gately Funeral Home, we are very familiar with this unfortunate situation and are trained to deal with it professionally, with compassion and timeliness.
The process includes the following steps: We will arrange to have the deceased transported to a funeral home near where the death has occurred. We will also arrange for embalming, necessary permits to transport, airfare or other transportation home, and payment for services performed by the out of town funeral home. We also arrange for the deceased to be transported to the Gately Funeral Home so that the family's wishes can be carried out.
When traveling, it is helpful for all of us to remember to carry a wallet-size card indicating the name and phone number of the next of kin along with the name and phone number of your hometown funeral home.
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Congratulations are in Order!
 The Gately Family has cause for celebrating and is happy to share the good news. Beginning the news announcements is the fact that John and Lorraine are celebrating their 25th Wedding Anniversary this September. A quarter of a century! Where did the time go?
Daughter Melissa, who was Captain of her Swim Team at Melrose High School, graduated in June and was recruited to swim in the DIV 3 on her team at her new school - Catholic University in Washington DC. "This is quite a big deal," boasts proud papa, John Gately. "Melissa swam at the North Shore YMCA and is looking forward to continuing her chosen sport at Catholic U."
Son John, the fifth generation of Gatelys to work in funeral service, has finished up his junior year at the University of New Hampshire with majors in political science and history (and a minor in business!) and has been working at Gately Funeral Home for the past five summers. He will complete his studies and then go on to study for his funeral director's license.
Not to be upstaged by the rest of the family, Tucker, the Gately's 3-year-old golden retriever, continues to be the funeral home mascot and to greet neighbors on his daily walks through downtown Melrose.
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Since 1889 the firm of Gately Funeral Home has been dedicated to providing the people of Melrose and surrounding communities funeral services unsurpassed in quality and caring. We thank you for your continuing support. It is our honor to assist your families in times of need.
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Contact Info
For more information about the articles in this issue of Gately Community Connections or to contribute to a future issue, contact John Gately at info@gatelyfh.com. Gately Funeral Home is located at 79 West Foster Street, Melrose MA 02176. |
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