Relative dials up a teleconference funeral

Like many business people, Phil Montgomery Sr. has sat in on his share of teleconferences, talking shop with associates from other states and cities as if they were in the same room.

On Thursday, he will be on the line once again, only this time he'll be hooked up with family and friends for a phone-based memorial service in honor of a deceased cousin. Through a conference call, the group will remember the life of Ernest "Ernie" Bradford, a former Colorado Springs resident who died earlier this month in Sacramento, Calif., at age 72.

"I think it's really going to be a very wonderful way of honoring him," said Montgomery, who lives in Huntington Beach, Calif., but also spent his childhood here.

Montgomery came up with the idea for the phone-based memorial and organized it through a free Web service, www.freeconference.com. But others have done something similar through Webcasts.

"It's fairly new but certainly something that's continuing to grow," said Jessica Koth, spokeswoman for the National Funeral Directors Association. "With families being spread out all over the country, and in some cases all over the world, funeral Webcasting allows people to attend funerals and pay tribute to their loved ones."

Bradford, who died Feb. 17 following a fall, and Montgomery, 70, graduated from Colorado Springs High School in the 1950s but left the city decades ago.

But Montgomery believes plenty of family and friends still living here will remember his cousin, and he expects the teleconference to re-establish lost connections. People who participate must leave contact information.

Montgomery was first exposed to teleconferences in his work as a business owner selling devices to help the disabled.

There are no numbers to show just how many funeral homes or families are using technology to bridge distances, Koth said, but every year at industry conferences, an increasing number of vendors are providing such services. The idea has found popularity among metropolitan funeral homes and rural ones alike.

Kurt Soffe, owner and funeral director of a pair of Salt Lake City funeral homes, said about 1 in every 150 families use his Webcasting service, and it helps those who are unable to travel. A woman who was on a Mormon mission trip in Scotland and could not return home when her mother died still expresses her appreciation to Soffe for the Web service several years later, he said.

But he added that there's no substitute for the real thing.

"As you gather together, there seems to be an energy created and a relationship that can only be built by being together," he said.

During today's memorial teleconference for Bradford, a man known for laughs and a quick wit, people can share memories, read poetry or even sing. Montgomery will open the call with a prayer and a eulogy.

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DETAILS

The memorial teleconference for Ernest Bradford will be at 7 p.m. Thursday. To participate, call 1-309-946-5000 and use code No. 656966.