ABSTRACT
After taking possession of the corpse and having gone to considerable lengths to humanize it, funeral directors assume full responsibility for the funeral ceremony. In the course of fieldwork in Easton I attended the final rites of passage of various ethnic and religious groups. Some communities provided their own deathworkers (usually Jews and Muslims); the remainder contracted the services of a local undertaker. Funeral companies are largely able to meet mourners demands by providing everyone with the same basic service, enhanced and adjusted according to the requirements of the bereaved. As Adrian Stone explained.
