When William L. Rossi died after an ongoing battle with the novel coronavirus on Nov. 12, the family initially planned to hold a small funeral service to honor him.

But as the number of COVID-19 cases continued to surge, and having witnessed first-hand the affects COVID-19 can have on a person; they postponed despite the wishes of some family and friends.

Her 89-year-old father was a long-time restaurant owner and popular caterer and many people would have come to remember and honor the man they knew as Bill in the pre-pandemic world. But not now.

“It didn’t seem logical to have the ceremony if there is a possibility of spreading the virus to another loved one,” said Roxann Rossi, William’s daughter.  

Throughout the course of the pandemic many families like the Rossis have made the tough decision to either postpone or cancel a funeral. And despite Gov. Jared Polis lifting restrictions placed on funeral services early this month, many families will continue to wait.

“I think everybody has been affected in some way or another by the virus, either by having it personally or knowing someone close who has. This has put us all in a sort of protective mode and until there is a vaccine that is available for most people, I think families will continue to wait for a later, safer date,” said Mike Heflebower, the owner of Heflebower Funeral and Cremation Service. 

Horan and McConaty Funeral Home in Denver has over 50 services pending because of the pandemic. Heflebower, in Highlands Ranch, says they’ve postponed anywhere between 75 and 100 services and Marshall’s Mortuary in Denver has postponed three.

“It doesn’t seem right to hold a funeral service when you have to ask yourself whether you can hug somebody, embrace somebody, or even love and cry with another family member,” Roxann Rossi said. 

Each funeral home that spoke to The Denver Gazette said they’ve been doing their best to honor each families’ wishes, whether it’s hosting a Zoom service or limiting size to a small gathering of only family members.

“Well it’s less than ideal. It’s certainly been well received to livestream the service to help ensure safety,” said John Horan, the owner of Horan and McConaty.

“For those who wish to speak and cannot be present, our technology enables a family member or friend to speak in real time and this is viewed on the screens in our chapel and on the livestream.” 

“While we would much prefer people had the opportunity to be on-site and present, because there is no perfect substitute for one’s personal presence, but in a time like these this is as close as we can get,” he said.

Fred Marshall, the owner of Marshall’s Mortuary in Denver, said that he’s seen a rapid increase of families cremating their loved ones and omitting a service altogether. 

“The highest number of people we’re serving are in the Baby Boomer generation and they’ve been passing up on traditional burial services and opting for cremations and no services at all,” he said.

“Although the national trends show that cremations are becoming more popular than traditional burials, this pandemic has expedited that process, mainly because people can’t get their entire family together and honor their loved one.” he said.

Throughout the entire calendar year of 2019, Marshall says his facility cremated 2,100 people and had burials for about 440. This year, as of Dec. 9, more than 3,300 people have been cremated in his facility and only 212 families have opted for a traditional burial. 

According to the National Funeral Directors Association‘s five-year annual report, funeral homes now expect 56% of all families who lost a loved to opt for cremation. 

Many families, including the Rossis, have opted for cremation for many reasons –including being worried about spreading the virus.

“If this body has COVID you almost don’t want (funeral home workers) to do anything besides cremate,” Roxann Rossi said. 

Currently the Rossis, like many families, are waiting to see how the COVID-19 pandemic transpires. Despite the Pfizer vaccine being approved for emergency use by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, they will continue to wait to celebrate the lives of their loved ones. 

“Truly the hardest and saddest part about this whole thing is wanting to honor our honor our father and celebrate his life, but not having a clue when it could happen,” Rossi said.