President Obama eulogizes Rev. Clementa Pinckney with his own rendition of "Amazing Grace."

Produced by Emma Fierberg. Video courtesy of the White House.

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In order to appreciate life and cope with stress, South Korean companies are offering "death experiences" where you lay in a coffin, write out your will, and imagine what it's like to die, the Associated Press reports.

One such company, the funeral service Hyowon Healing Center, has had 15,000 people participate in the mock funerals since 2012.

The participants say the experience puts it all into perspective.

Story by Tony Manfred and editing by Stephen Parkhurst

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After 40 years of working in Williamsburg, Keith Senko thought he’d heard and seen it all.

He grew up in the family business, Senko Funeral Home, founded in 1928 on Bedford Avenue.

He’d seen the neighborhood transform as Polish and Hispanic families gave way to rebel artists, hipster hordes and, now, creative yuppies.

Bookings for Catholic wakes went down; requests for alternative ceremonies went up.

“It had to be in Williamsburg, they said, because it had to be ‘on the cutting edge.’ That was a new one,” Senko recalled. “I told them we’ve been on the cutting edge for a hundred years.”

“I’ve done every kind of funeral under the sun: Wiccan, Apache, Blackfoot, Hindu, Buddhist—you name it,” said Senko, 58.

But a couple of years ago, he got a call that surprised him.

“They wanted to ‘check out’ our venue—I’d never heard that before,” he said.

The caller said the deceased, a lifelong Manhattan resident, had been “extremely hip,” so the funeral needed to be as well.

Funeral homes are no longer recession-proof.

If Williamsburg were to become a hot funeral destination, Senko would be a chief beneficiary: He has the neighborhood’s last funeral parlor north of the Williamsburg Bridge.

One by one, his competitors closed: Blizinzki Funeral Home on Metropolitan Avenue, Abramo’s on Humboldt Avenue, Polakas on Berry Street, Matthew Ballas on Grand Street and others since the 1990s.

A similar pattern has been playing out across the city.

Over two decades, hundreds of funeral homes have shuttered, many of them multi generation family businesses—neighborhood mainstays who could be counted on to remember old-timers’ nicknames or provide a steady presence to the grieving.

“It’s unbelievable what’s happened,” said Robert Ruggiero, executive director of the Metropolitan Funeral Directors Association, a local trade group. When he took office in 1990, the organization’s directory listed 841 funeral homes. Last year, his mailing list was down to 473, a 44% drop.

Ruggiero’s numbers reflect the city’s: Just 475 licensed funeral parlors were operating here in 2015, according to the state’s Department of Health.

Funeral homes are no longer recession-proof. The new challenge for funeral directors is figuring out how to serve changing customer needs and still make money.

The usual suspects

Why is death a dying business?

Observers cite the familiar and oft-blamed culprit of gentrification, which drives up real estate prices until a funeral home’s property is more valuable than its business.

Some recent examples: the 2014 sales of Michael Cos grove & Son funeral home (established 1912) in Sunset Park for $2.125 million and Dominic J. Cusimano Court Street Funeral Home (established 1946) in Cobble Hill for $4.55 million. Last year, Ray Smith Funeral Home in Prospect Heights sold for $2.35 million and Marion Daniels & Sons in Harlem for $3 million.

Most were sold to developers and will become new residential and retail buildings.

“Funeral homes are good for redevelopment and mixed use,” said Aaron Warkov, a real estate broker with Cushman & Wakefield who took an interest in funeral homes about three years ago.

He calls about a dozen funeral directors periodically to test the waters.

“They’re waiting to see if their nephews want to take over the business, or their grandson,” he said. He’s sold two funeral homes in Brooklyn so far.

Unlike entrepreneurs who thrive on selling their companies and starting new ones, funeral-home owners are often reluctant sellers.

“It’s a really painful decision for them,” said Melissa Drake, president and COO of American Funeral Consultants, which does business appraisals and sales of funeral homes.

“But if you’re sitting on a property worth $5 million and you’re only doing 100 funerals a year, and your kids aren’t interested in the business and you need to think about retirement ... it’s hard.”

Eye-popping price tags tell only part of the story. Funeral homes have been closing in less trendy neighborhoods too. “It’s not one thing; everything’s changing,” Ruggiero said.

The death-care industry is going through major shifts nationwide as customs evolve.

Families are more spread out, so multiday wakes are less common. Cremation, which costs half what traditional services do, is becoming more popular.

Consolidation by large conglomerates—Service Corp. International operates 36 funeral homes in the five boroughs—has further pressured independent operators.

Funeral homes are still largely family enterprises, and many of the youngest generation are choosing not to undertake the job.

“You’re basically on call 24 hours a day. People don’t die on schedule,” said business adviser David Nixon, whose firm, Nixon Consulting, specializes in funeral homes. “They saw their parents always missing family events because they got a call they had to go take care of, and they just said no to the lifestyle.”

In New York, many funeral homes have simply outlived their established customer bases.

“We handled mostly Irish and Norwegian funerals, but now the neighborhood is mostly Chinese,” said Michael Cosgrove, a third-generation mortician who sold his eponymous Brooklyn parlor after years of dwindling business. “It’s good for Chinese funeral homes, I guess.” Cosgrove said he still arranges funerals upon request.

Underlying all these pressures—the real estate boom, the rise in cremations, the changing neighborhoods—something more fundamental is buffeting the industry: New Yorkers just aren’t dying like they used to.

New York City’s death rate has plummeted over the past 25 years, even as the population has grown by 1.2 million. The 53,000 deaths recorded in the city in 2014 were down from 76,000 in 1989. That’s a 30% drop in potential customers.

The steepest drops have been in deaths from heart disease and cancer. “They’re the two biggest killers in the city, and we’ve seen nice declines,” said Gretchen Van Wye, assistant commissioner of the city’s Bureau of Vital Statistics.

Beta blockers, ste nts and sta tins have helped reduce premature deaths from heart attacks by 30% over a decade. Better cancer treatment and the city’s aggressive anti smoking measures have cut cancer deaths; HIV/AIDS dropped out of the top 10 leading causes of death in 2012.

“Thank God for medical technology,” said Joe Aievoli, owner of four funeral homes in Brooklyn. “I am the biggest supporter, believe me. A 72-year-old gets a double bypass and he’s like a new man. He picks up and sells his row house in Brooklyn or the Bronx and moves to South Carolina and lives another 25 years! It’s phenomenal. But let’s just say it’s not exactly funeral-industry-friendly.”

More often than not, the vacated property is snatched up by young professionals or a young family, creating pockets of the city where senior-citizen sightings are rare. It has affected not just funeral homes but ancillary businesses too.

“I don’t want to sound like a miserable tombstone guy, but I look around Park Slope, and the average age is, like, 36 years old,” said Michael Cassara of Supreme Memorials, a local stone-carver specializing in headstones, monuments and mausoleums. Referrals from funeral homes used to provide a significant amount of his business. “You can feel the death rate is way down,” he said.

Life expectancy in the city recently hit an all-time high of nearly 81 years of age. The gains for older city residents are especially striking, as those reaching 70 can expect to live 17 more years.

For more than a decade, industry analysts have been predicting a surge in the death rate as baby boomers start to pass away. It hasn’t happened.

“I had customers in here the other day making arrangements for a 96-year-old woman. They were her three daughters, and the youngest one was 70,” said John He yer II, co-owner of Scotto Funeral Home in Carroll Gardens. “We’re seeing more of that.”

At 33 years old, he’s part of a small cohort of young funeral directors staying in the family business, having purchased the funeral home from his father-in-law, Buddy Scotto, now 87.

The surge is still expected over the next 10 years. Indeed, the number of deaths in 2014—the most recent data available—was slightly higher than in 2012. But if it’s the beginning of a trend, it is too late for the many funeral directors hitting retirement age.

“I’m young enough that I’ll still be able to catch it,” Heyer said.

For most funeral homes, cremations are what’s upending their business model. In the U.S., the median price of a funeral (including the service, casket, embalming, wake, transportation and burial) is about $8,500, according to the National Funeral Directors Association (NFDA).

But New York City funerals can easily surpass that, especially because burial plots and mausoleum prices have soared—much as other real estate has. 

Burial space running short

At Green-Wood Cemetery, the largest in Brooklyn at 478 acres, a single grave plot, which has room for three caskets, costs $17,000, up from $8,000 to $10,000 a decade ago.

Space is at a premium: Green-Wood management estimates it will run out of in-ground burial space in about five years.

Trinity Graveyard and Mausoleum in Washington Heights is the only Manhattan cemetery accepting new business, but it has space only in above-ground mausoleums. Prices start at $18,900 for a crypt. Crypts in the $9,000 to $12,000 range, available a decade ago, have sold out.

At Woodlawn Cemetery, a sprawling 400-acre site in the Bronx, a plot for one costs $8,000 and a plot for two costs $10,000, double the prices of a decade ago. Executive Director Davidis on says the cemetery has at least 25 to 50 years before space becomes an issue.

At the city’s largest Catholic cemetery, Calvary Cemetery in Queens, an in-ground plot with room for three burials is $4,635. With space limited, Calvary sells plots for immediate use only.

Staten Island’s largest burial site, Moravian Cemetery, likewise does not sell plots in advance. An in-ground plot for two interments costs $5,800, just 5% more than a decade ago.

Cremation, on the other hand, typically costs about $4,000. It’s easy to see why it is becoming more popular. Last year the nationwide cremation rate was about 50%, according to the NF DA, up from 25% in 1999. New York’s was 39% in 2013, up from about 20% in 1999.

Some attribute the surge in cremations to relaxing religious mores and the fading of traditions. Families are more dispersed, so calling everyone home for a funeral is complicated, and people are reluctant to take days off. “You used to have a three-day wake with hundreds of people coming through.

Now you don’t even get a one-day wake,” Dominic Cusimano, grandson of the original proprietor, said. He sold his building but still does funeral arrangements, sharing mortuary space with other funeral directors. “We’re here to serve the remnants of families who still want to do things traditionally,” he said.

Many say the cremation trend is simply economics. People are just more cost-conscious, observed Heyer, of Scotto’s, where cremations are about 30% of the business.

One of the biggest funeral costs is the casket, which can be thousands of dollars. But funeral homes now offer rental caskets for wakes and funeral services; an interior box slides out at the crematory.

“People will tell you it’s the increase in secularization, and I hate to differ, but that’s not what I see,” Heyer said. “A family will come in and say, ‘We’re not religious, we don’t want to go to church, so that will save us money on a service and pallbearers, etc. But can a priest just come to the house and say a few words?’”

The famed Frank E. Campbell Funeral Parlor on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, part of the Service Corp. International network since 1971, is trying to make cremation services as customary and meaningful as traditional funerals and burials.

“For our families that select cremation as a final disposition, we make sure to educate them that cremation doesn’t mean they can’t have a funeral service for their loved one before or after,” said John Kuhn, general manager. “A lot of them weren’t aware you could do that.”

The parlor is known for its star-studded clientele. Founded in 1898, it has handled funerals for the likes of Lauren Bacall, Irving Berlin, Celia Cruz, Leona Helmsley, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Joan Rivers, Tennessee Williams and just about every major New York politico.

Kuhn says people increasingly prefer to celebrate the lives of the deceased rather than just mourn their deaths, leading to new business opportunities, including customizable sculptures that double as urns and provide a focal point for a service.

Sets of small urns let family members in different cities each take some of a loved one’s cremains, eliminating the tense conversation of who gets to keep Mom on their mantle.

Another growth area is memorial jewelry—lockets, rings, cylinders and other trinkets that can hold cremains or a loved one’s fingerprint.

Artisans can incorporate cremains into blown glass. “We’ve tried to come up with different items that would have meaning to the cremation family,” Kuhn said, adding that he doesn’t see the rising cremation rate as a negative. “We view it as a family decision, and we’re here to offer them options.”

Cemeteries are offering more niches for urns in benches, columns and columbaria for those who want a funeral ritual even when opting for cremation.

All this may be too much for some, though. Customer tastes and New York City’s communities will continue to evolve, but that need not spell disaster for funeral homes.

“There is a bright future for businesses who can adapt to a 21st-century way of doing business,” said Dan Is ard, president of funeral industry consultancy the Foresight Companies. “We may be able to cure cancer, but we can’t cure death.”

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• Professional stylists and former wedding planners, the women of Going Out In Style, have now turned to the funeral business.
• Their services cover all aspects of the event, and they encourage clients to think outside of the box.
• They work both with consulting clients who are looking to pre-plan their funerals, and the families of the deceased.  

The four women of Going Out In Style want you to think differently about death.

That is, what happens after your death — including what you'd like your funeral service to look like, smell like, taste like, and feel like for the guests.

Of course, you won't be there to enjoy it, but GOIS wants to style, organize, and throw you the ultimate after-party anyway. The women consult with clients prior to death, as well as family or friends of the deceased.

Their last client — who held a memorial service at New York City's renowned power-lunch spot, The Grill — was celebrated and remembered with napkins depicting custom illustrations of his two dogs, his favorite sayings printed on coasters, and a cart serving whiskey — his preferred drink. They approached the client's family with a simple request: "Tell us a story about him." From there, they begin their planning.

They stand firmly behind the idea that their funeral-styling services help those you've left behind. "In the time of need, wouldn't it be nice if you knew exactly what that person wanted instead of trying to guess?" co-founder Cassidy Iwersen told Business Insider.

With an attention to detail similar to wedding planning, Naomi DeManana, Colleen Banks, Erin Furey, and Iwersen plan every aspect of the event — and no request is too absurd. 

"Specialty gifts we can also provide include a visit to your home to hide secrets and embarrassing items — or deleting your browsing history," said Iwersen.

We followed the ladies of Going Out In Style for a day to get an idea of how they operate — and what they can offer clients.      

Our first stop was Manhattan's flower district — where DeManana was picking up a bouquet of red roses as a thank you gift for a former client.

Their services span floral arrangements, location and venue booking, invitations, musical arrangements, the food, organizing readings, how you'd like to be buried or cremated, what you'll be wearing inside your casket, what your casket will be made of, and the parting gifts — anything and everything you, or your family might request on your behalf. 

As professional stylists and former wedding planners, the team has years of experience creating and executing large-scale events.

Iwersen noted the difference in their new line of work: "People are grieving, and they really need you to help come in...and tease out these details quickly while they're a little clouded or sad. It feels good to use our skills that way."

When consulting with clients, the questions they ask branch out well beyond the major event musts, down to the nitty gritty details.

No request is too over the top. They have a list of questions they ask, starting with the main event. "Is it a funeral? Memorial? A party or an ocean send off? What's the location? Is it a destination funeral? Time of day? The guest list? Invitation — is there one? Is it printed? An email? Delivered by carrier pigeons?" said Iwersen.

Rappers Drake and The Game are teaming up to cover the funeral costs for a man and five children they never met.

Anna Angel was working her shift at Burger King on Sunday when a fire ripped through the family's mobile home in Ohio, killing her boyfriend and five young children.

The rappers posted a photo of the family to their Instagram accounts, pledging to donate $10,000 apiece to help the grieving mother cover the costs of burying her partner and kids.

Producers of The Game’s TV show are donating an additional $2,500.

The Game explained on his Instagram account:

I can deal with a lot of things but people losing their children is something that kills me every time. I cannot imagine the feeling she had at that moment & when I 1st read this story yesterday I just happened to be on the phone with DRAKE @champagnepapi & told him about it so he offered to help alongside me.

The Game, who recently pledged $1 million to The Robin Hood Project, also donated $10,000 to help out with another funeral after a 6-year-old girl was shot and killed in front of her home earlier this month.

Drake later posted about the situation, saying: "What [The Game] is doing will never be forgotten. Honored to be able to help people along side my brother."

SEE ALSO: Panicked Producers Relocate 'Homeland' Israel Shoots Over Syria Fears

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Instead of giving your loved ones a traditional burial, why not send them off in style with a memorial spaceflight?

That's the vision of Elysium Space, a company that aims to launch portions of cremated human remains into space.

Under Elysium Space's plan, human ashes will launch into space and orbit the Earth for several months before burning up in the atmosphere as a "shooting star."

The company has already launched a mobile app to track ashes in orbit, and hopes to launch its first memorial flight in 2014.

"A memorial spaceflight is a unique experience for family and friends to make a memory and remember a loved one," said Elysium Space founder Thomas Civeit, a former NASA engineer. "We believe that now is the time to change the vision of death from the Underground to the Celestial." [Watch a small rocket launch human ashes into space (Video)]

The company is contracting with commercial space transportation companies such as Orbital Sciences and SpaceX, Civeit told SPACE.com, and the first launch is slated for summer 2014 from Cape Canaveral, Fla.

Elysium Space isn't the first company to offer memorial spaceflights for the deceased.

The Houston-based firm Celestis, Inc. has been launching human ashes into space since 1997. Its inaugural flight carried the remains of "Star Trek" creator Gene Roddenberry.

The remains of Roddenberry's wife were later launched alongside his in a 2009 flight. Celestis has also launched the ashes of "Star Trek" actor James Doohan, who portrayed "Scotty" in the TV franchise, along with the remains of Mercury astronaut Gordon Cooper.

When Elysium Space customers purchase a memorial spaceflight, they will receive a kit with an ash capsule, which can be engraved with up to three initials, and a mini-scoop for transferring "a symbolic portion" of ashes to the capsule, according to a product description. The price of a launch is currently set at $1,990.

Customers will ship their capsules to Elysium Space, which will pack them into the spacecraft. Elysium will also engrave a remembrance message of up to 80 characters on metal plates attached to the spacecraft.

After the memorial spacecraft launches, customers will be able to track their loved one's celestial journey on a free mobile app, available on Apple's App Store and Google play. The app will show, in real time, where the spacecraft is and how the world looks from that location.

After a few months in orbit, the spacecraft will re-enter the Earth's atmosphere, where it will burn up, leaving no space debris behind, Civeit said.

Civeit did not reveal how many people have signed up for an Elysium Space memorial flight yet, but did say there is "strong interest" for the service in both the United States and Japan. The company received orders within a week of its launch earlier this year.

"Funeral services have been changing over the last 50 years, transitioning from religious rituals to life celebration ceremonies," Civeit said. "Crossing the Milky Way and eventually becoming a shooting star is a poetic experience."

For more details on Elysium Space's space burial-tracking mobile app, click here.

Follow Tanya Lewis on Twitter and Google+. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original article on SPACE.com.

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American Airlines no longer offers emergency or bereavement fares, it announced quietly on its website, adding that it does "offer customers flexible fare options when booking last minute travel for a variety of reasons."

The new policy took effect February 18. According to Travelocity blog The Window Seat, the American's old policy had a fixed, reduced price for each route, and passengers could change their flight as needed. Back in 2004, SmarterTravel found a $40 difference between an American Airlines bereavement fare and the lowest online fare.

George Hobica, the founder of Airfarewatchdog, told Business Insider the bereavement fares weren't popular anyway, "because the savings weren't significant. You'd save more by using the name your own price option on Priceline and that's what I usually suggested people do when they had to travel last minute."

According to the AP, Southwest Airlines and Virgin America don't offer bereavement fares. United Airlines offers 5% off the lowest available fare.

In a statement, an American Airlines spokesperson said:

“We remain committed to doing all we can to relieve the burden of travel for our customers in times of need. With the advent of more choices, lower cost carriers and larger networks, the industry has started to move away from bereavement fares because walk-up fares are generally lower than in the past, and customers now have more opportunities to find affordable fares at the last minute.

"American is moving toward that industry trend and the airline offers customers changeable and refundable options with the ability to apply future reservations to bereavement travel without change fees. We believe this policy is a cost-effective solution for customers in need of bereavement travel.”

SEE ALSO: Bhutan's Tiny Himalayan Airport Is One Of The Trickiest Places In The World To Land

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As the saying goes, only two things are certain in life: death and taxes.

Frankly, we don't like thinking about either.

But data from the National Funeral Director's Association says we had better start thinking about our mortality — at least, as it relates to our bank account.

According to the NFDA, the median price of an American funeral in 2012 was about $7,000. Even a "simple" cremation costs an average of $3,200 (although Fox Business points out that you can snag a cheap urn for about $20 at Costco).

Prices will just keep rising, if the past 50 years are any indication:

In a post on the blog Personal Capital, personal finance writer Holly Johnson recounts some of her experience working in a funeral home — namely, the costs. She writes:

… The cost of an average funeral doesn’t include cemetery expenses such as burial space, a burial vault, the opening and closing of a grave, or a headstone. When accounting for those expenses, the average cost for a traditional funeral rises dramatically, usually to somewhere between $9,000 and $12,000. I’ve even seen hundreds of families spend upwards of $15,000 or more over the years.

Johnson goes on to explain that many families are caught unawares by the costs of burying or cremating their loved ones, and some have to go into credit card debt to do it. "Now they are stressed over losing their loved one and having thousands of dollars in new debt," she says. She remembers families who were surprised that their loved one's life insurance either didn't cover the funeral costs or had lapsed, and families who had done nothing to plan for their inevitable demise.

Who wants to leave their family miserable and indebted? While we could caution 75-year-olds to start saving, it's a lot easier for a professional with at least one steady income stream to get ahead on savings than for a retiree. No one's saying you need an account marked "funeral" (that's bit morbid, even for the most responsible saver), but the numbers show that getting in the habit of putting money away today will benefit you to the very end.

Hat tip to Financial Samurai.

SEE ALSO: 4 Signs You Picked The Wrong Health Insurance Plan

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Joan Rivers died Thursday at the age of 81, but the topic was something that had been on her mind for a while.

In her 2013 book "I Hate Everyone ... Starting With Me," Joan jokingly addressed death, her will, and the glamorous funeral she hoped for:

Joan had some other great quotes on life and death:

• "I've had so much plastic surgery, when I die they will donate my body to Tupperware."
• "I enjoy life when things are happening. I don't care if it's good things or bad things. That means you're alive. Things are happening."
•  "I have become my own version of an optimist. If I can't make it through one door, I'll go through another door—or I'll make a door. Something terrific will come no matter how dark the present."

Joan has also joked about not wanting to die a natural death:

SEE ALSO: Joan Rivers Once Joked About Not Wanting To Die A Natural Death

MORE: Here's An Amazing Scene From 'Louie' In Which Joan Rivers Explains Why She's A Comedian

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Joan Rivers once joked that she wanted her funeral to be a "huge showbiz affair with lights, camera, action" complete with "paparazzi and publicists making a scene." At the comedy legend's funeral Sunday, she got just that.

More than 40 celebrities attended Rivers' funeral at Temple Emanu-El in New York City.

Howard Stern delivered the eulogyduring the memorial service, followed by Tony Award-winner Audra McDonald singing “Smile” and Hugh Jackman performing "Quiet Please, There's a Lady on Stage." To top it off, the New York City Gay Men's Chorus singing a string of Broadway hits.

According to The Associated Press, three of Rivers’ famous lines were printed on the funeral program: “Can we talk?” "Who are you wearing?” and “Because I'm a funny person.”

Mourners exited the synagogue behind bagpipers who performed "New York, New York" and "Give My Regards to Broadway."

Joan's daughter, Melissa, and grandson, Cooper, led the procession to the awaiting cars.

Howard Stern, who interviewed Joan several times on his XM radio show and gave the eulogy, attended with wife Beth Stern.Sarah Jessica Parker paid her respects.As did her husband, Matthew Broderick, and son, James Wilkie.Joan's "Fashion Police" co-host Kelly Osbourne was there, along with E!'s Giuliana Rancic.Donald Trump, who worked with Joan on "Celebrity Apprentice," and wife Melania paid their condolences. Along with Ivanka Trump and husband Jared Kushner.Joan's good friend Barbara Walters waved hello to the hundreds of fans standing across the street from the memorial service.Rosie O'Donnell was clearly emotional.O'Donnell's former "View" co-host Whoopi Goldberg was there.As was Joy Behar.ABC News' Diane Sawyer."Today Show" co-hosts Kathie Lee Griffin and Hoda Kotb.Comedian Kathy Griffin, who appeared on "Celebrity Apprentice" with Joan.Actor Denis Leary.

Bravo's Andy Cohen.

Dr. Oz and wife Lisa Oz.Geraldo Rivera.Judge Judy.Fashion designer Carolina Herrera took a break from New York Fashion Week to attend.As did Oscar de la Renta.Music exec/producer Clive Davis.The Emerald Society led the procession of mourners out with "New York, New York" and "Give My Regards to Broadway."Rivers’ publicist has asked that in lieu of flowers, donations can be made to God’s Love We Deliver, Guide Dogs for the Blind, or Our House.

Rivers died Thursday at age 81 after complications from routine surgery on her vocal chords.

SEE ALSO: Here's What Joan Rivers Wanted Her Funeral To Be Like

MORE: Joan Rivers Once Considered Suicide But Here's What Stopped Her

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It may have been a sad day, but Joan Rivers' star-studded funeral on Sunday was also full of laughs thanks to a raunchy eulogy by Howard Stern and a light-hearted letter from daughter, Melissa Rivers.

Melissa read an excerpt from "A Letter to My Mom," a book that will be published in April. In the letter, the 46-year-old "landlord" scolds her 81-year-old mother/tenant for too much partying and corrupting her 13-year-old son, Cooper.

In recent years, Joan had been staying in a small guest room in Melissa's L.A. home where she stayed for the one day a week she flew in from New York to tape E!'s "Fashion Police."

The bi-coastal relationship was the subject line of the mother-daughter duo's WE tv reality show, "Joan & Melissa: Joan Knows Best?"

Read Melissa's letter, first published on The Hollywood Reporter, below:

Mom:

I received the note that you slipped under my bedroom door last night. I was very excited to read it, thinking that it would contain amazing, loving advice that you wanted to share with me. Imagine my surprise when I opened it and saw that it began with the salutation, "Dear Landlord." I have reviewed your complaints and address them below:

1. While I appreciate your desire to "upgrade" your accommodations to a larger space, I cannot, in good conscience, move [my 13-year-old son] Cooper into the laundry room. I do agree that it will teach him a life lesson about fluffing and folding, but since I don't foresee him having a future in dry cleaning, I must say no.

Also, I know you are a true creative genius (and I am in awe of the depth of your instincts), but breaking down a wall without my permission is not an appropriate way to express that creativity. It is not only a boundary violation but a building-code violation as well. Additionally, the repairman can't get here until next week, so your expansion plan will have to be put on hold.

2. Re: Your fellow "tenant" (your word), Cooper. While I trust you with him, it is not OK for you to undermine my rules. It is not OK that you let him have chips and ice cream for dinner. It is not OK that you let him skip school to go to the movies. And it is really not OK that the movie was Last Tango in Paris.

As for your taking his friends to a "gentlemen's club," I accepted your rationale that it was an educational experience for the boys — and you are right, he is the most popular kid in school right now — but I'd prefer he not learn biology from those "gentlemen" and their ladies, Bambi, Trixie and Kitten. And just because I yelled at you, I do not appreciate your claim that I have created a hostile living environment.

3. While I'm glad to see you're socializing, you must refill the hot tub after your parties. In fact, you need to tone down the parties altogether. Imagine my surprise when I saw the photos you posted on Facebook of your friends frolicking topless in the hot tub.

I think it's great that you're entertaining more often, but I can't keep fielding complaints from the neighbors about your noisy party games like Ring Around the Walker or naked Duck, Duck Caregiver.

I'm more than happy to have you use the house for social gatherings, but you cannot rent it out, advertise as "party central" or hand out T-shirts that say "F— Jimmy Buffett."

In closing, I hope I have satisfactorily answered your complaints and queries. I love having you live with me, and I am grateful for every minute Cooper and I have with you. You are an inspiration. You are also 30 days late with the rent.

Much love,

Melissa

The mother and daughter had a famously close relationship.

The two remained strong at the 1987 funeral of Edgar Rosenberg, Joan's husband and Melissa's father.In 1996, they began hosting E!'s "Live from the Red Carpet" at major awards shows.

Here's Joan joking with Melissa at the 59th Annual Golden Globe Awards in 2002.In 2003, they were back on the red carpet for the following year's Globes.In 2004, they hosted the red carpet for the Academy Awards.In 2005, they covered the red carpet at the Academy Awards for TV Guide.They showed affection again at the 2006 Academy Awards.And at the Emmys in 2006.They stayed close in 2007 at the Academy Awards.And celebrated Joan's "Celebrity Apprentice" win in 2009, despite competing against each other on the show.Melissa supported her mother during 2009's Comedy Central roast.And the two celebrated the second season of their WEtv reality show "Joan & Melissa: Joan Knows Best?" in 2012.Melissa produced E!'s "Fashion Police," on which Joan starred.But they still worked the red carpet together, recently at last year's Do Something Awards.In January, they were each others' dates to a pre-Grammy gala.And in May attended the NBCUniversal upfronts to promote "Fashion Police."Joan was scheduled to shoot "Fashion Police" in New York City the week she died at age 81.

SEE ALSO: Tons Of Celebrities Showed Up For Joan Rivers' NYC Funeral

MORE: Here's How Joan Rivers Pulled Herself Out Of A $37 Million Debt

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The middle-class Queens neighborhood of Glendale was transformed Saturday by the funeral for the NYPD officer assassinated the week before.

Thousands of officers swarmed the streets to honor Officer Rafael Ramos, a 40-year-old father of two, who was killed alongside his partner, Wenjian Liu, while sitting in their patrol car the previous Saturday. Police identified the killer as Ismaaiyl Brinsley and said he had targeted the officers as revenge for the controversial deaths of unarmed black men during arrests in Staten Island, New York, and Ferguson, Missouri.

"Every time I attend a cop's funeral, I pray that it will be the last," NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton said at the funeral, according to his prepared remarks. "But I know it won't. As I watch the casket carried past all those salutes, I wish it weren't real. But it is."

According to The New York Times, services for Liu have been delayed so families members can make arrangements to travel from China.

View photos from Saturday's event below.

The sun rises as an NYPD officer walks toward Christ Tabernacle Church, where the services were held.

 Motorcycle officers lead the funeral procession.

 Police officers bow their heads.

 Officers hold their hands in prayer.

Mourners stand at a barricade near Christ Tabernacle Church.

Thousands of police officers and others stand at attention as the hearse passes by.

Thousands salute during the National Anthem.

Upset with Mayor Bill de Blasio's controversial remarks about the Eric Garner case, police turned their back on de Blasio's eulogy for Ramos.

Thousands of police officers stand at attention as a procession carrying Ramos passes by after his funeral.

Sons Jaden Ramos, left, and Justin Ramos, sit in a limousine following the services.

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On Saturday, thousands of men and women in uniform paid their respects at the funeral of Officer Rafael Ramos, one of the two officers who were killed in Brooklyn on December 20th.

Photos of the procession made their way around the internet, but BuzzFeed points out that one in particular continued to be shared all over social media by many NYPD precincts.

To all who traveled or sent condolences for Officer Ramos. Thank you. Your support is overwhelming, and inspiring. pic.twitter.com/w0HxhqPNlD

— NYPD 34th Precinct (@NYPD34Pct) December 27, 2014

But the photo, showing a sea of officers, is not from Ramos' funeral. 

BuzzFeed reports the photo (above) is from 2007, at the funeral of NYPD Officer Russel Timoshenko, who was also killed in the line of duty. He was only 23.

Many precincts who had shared the photo deleted their tweets after the BuzzFeed article was published.

@ZachTumin please delete this tweet...uploaded a wrong pic

— NYPD 72nd Precinct (@NYPD72Pct) December 27, 2014

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The loss of a family member can be too much for some people to bear, but learning how much a funeral can cost is enough to send many over the edge.

I've seen it too many times to count.

My husband has been a funeral director for most of his adult life, and I worked alongside him for almost seven years.

And the story, while always tragic and heartbreaking in its own way, is almost always the same.

A family member dies unexpectedly or after a long illness. Spouses, siblings, aunts, and uncles gather to make meaningful plans for a burial or cremation.

Almost always, someone in the family balks at the cost. "This is going to cost how much?" they'll exclaim. And sometimes, they blame the funeral home.

But that isn't necessarily fair, as there are many reasons why funeral bills are more complex than ever.

What funeral bills are made of

According to the National Funeral Directors Association (NFDA), the national median cost of a funeral was $7,045 in 2012, the last year for which they provide data. If you add a burial vault to the bill, the cost jumps to $8,343.

Included in those costs are a wide range of services and merchandise, including a basic non-declinable service fee, fee for removal and delivery of the body, embalming, preparation of the body for viewing, building fees for visitation and funeral services, hearse and service vehicle fees, fees for printed materials, and the average cost of a metal casket.

However, another column consisting of cash-advance items will generally be added to your bill, and this can include things like flowers you've ordered, newspaper obituaries, death certificates, clergy payments, and taxes levied on merchandise. The funeral home pays these expenses on your behalf with the agreement that you will pay them back.

Here's what you should know

The funeral home's basic service fee is non-declinable and required, but you do have some power when it comes to keeping costs down for the remainder of your funeral bill.

For example, the cremation rate has climbed to 43.2% in 2012, up from only 3.6% in 1960. And even though the trend may be due to other factors in some cases, such as environmental concerns, no one can deny that cremation can save you money. According to the Cremation Association of North America, the average cremation runs about $3,200, or less than half the cost of a traditional burial.

But contrary to popular belief, you can still have a funeral if you opt for cremation. Many funeral homes will prepare the body for viewing and even rent you a casket for the right price. Then, instead of heading to the cemetery, you'll be cremated instead. The cost savings can be considerable.

Other ways to save

But cremation isn't the only way to save while you pay your final respects. If you have your heart set on traditional burial for yourself or a family member, there are still plenty of ways to keep costs down. Here are a few ideas:

Say no to the fancy casket and vault: According to the NFDA, an average metal casket costs around $2,395. However, there are plenty of lower-cost metal caskets out there, along with plenty of cheaper vault options as well. Your funeral home may not have these items on display, but that doesn't mean they can't order them for you.

Ask to see their catalog of casket and vault options and look for those that offer the most value. According to the Federal Trade Commission, the funeral director is required to show you a list of caskets with pricing before showing you the caskets themselves.

Buy from a discount casket provider: With prices surging, discount casket providers have popped up all over the country. These storefronts often offer caskets that are drastically discounted, and even some that are scratch-and-dent or have been discontinued.

The funeral home may prefer that you buy one of their caskets, but they can't insist that you do. And remember, laws governing funeral homes require that they accept caskets from all third-party providers without charging you a fee.

Go basic for flowers, paper goods, and other non-necessities: Flowers and printed materials can generally be as inexpensive or elaborate as you want them to be. But if you want to save, flowers are a huge expense that can easily be avoided or at least minimized.

Instead of going for the priciest casket spray and accompaniments out there, opt to go basic instead. Then decorate the viewing room with family photos and meaningful objects from your loved one's life instead.

Forgo the standard obituary: A standard obituary in a large newspaper can cost $1,000 or more. But with the popularity of the Internet and social media, it hardly makes sense to fork over that much cash for something you can generally get for free.

Instead of paying for overly expensive obituaries, use a funeral home that posts obituaries and service details online in a format that is easily shareable. Share on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, and email friends and family members who may live far away. Ask others to help get the word out as well and you will likely accomplish as much, if not more, than a standard obituary could on its own.

When planning a funeral, it's important to arm yourself with as much information as possible so you're not making decisions based purely on emotion. At the end of the day, the fancy casket, vault, and flowers may not make your loss any easier, and could even make life harder by saddling you with unnecessary bills — or even debt.

So learn as much as you can and save in whatever ways seem the most reasonable to you. The best ways to honor your loved one — remembering their story and sharing it — don't cost a thing.

You shouldn't have to go broke to say goodbye. And with the proper amount of research and planning, you won't have to.

SEE ALSO: If You Think You Can't Afford To Save Money, Read This

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The Co-operative Group is attempting to "rescue, rebuild, renew" itself after a range of personnel scandals and financial issues dogged the company over the last two years.

The company, which is the UK's largest mutual business and is owned by more than eight million members, has faced increased competition among the supermarkets and has sold off its farms and pharmacies over the last year to shore up cash.

However, the Co-op can't seem to catch a break.

Co-op revealed in a trading statement for the 52 weeks ending January 3, 2015, that while it is frantically "rebuilding" the company and focusing on certain businesses, its revenue was hit because less Britons died last year.

The Co-op said that its funeralcare business saw sales fall almost 2%, by £7 million, which was "affected by a particularly low death rate."

Other sales figures in the trading update show a fall too:

• Group revenue of £9.4 billion in 2014, (2013: £9.7 billion)
• Group underlying operating profit £172 million (2013: £177 million)
• General insurance revenue fell to £371 million (2013: £476m)
• Legal services' revenues declined by a third to £23 million and made £5 million in losses for 2014.

The group even said that its profits were buoyed up from the sale of its farms and pharmacies business (emphasis ours):

"We made solid progress in 2014 as we successfully concluded the Rescue phase of our turnaround. The hard work of Rebuilding The Co-operative Group for the next generation, and restoring it to its rightful place at the heart of communities up and down the UK, is now underway," said Richard Pennycook, Chief Executive of The Co-op Group, in a statement.

“A significant element of our 2014 profit relates to one-off disposal gains on the sale of our Farms and Pharmacy businesses and property disposals. Without these we would, at best, have broken even. Against that backdrop, and given the need to invest in all our businesses, the Board will not be recommending a dividend to members and believes that a resumption of dividend payments is unlikely until the Rebuild phase is complete and we have returned to sustainable profitable growth.”

However, it wasn't all doom and gloom for the Co-op, less people may have died in 2014 to help sales but more people were buying its food.

The Co-op, which is the UK's fifth biggest food retailer with almost 2,800 local, convenience and medium-sized stores, revealed that like-for-like sales were up 0.4% overall.

"We acquired 82 new convenience stores and refurbished more than 700 stores; prices were lowered across 40 categories and the investment in own-brand product continued with over 170 awards for quality won during the year," said the group.

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BALTIMORE (Reuters) - The Baltimore Police Department on Monday reported receiving a "credible threat" that several gangs were planning to try to "take out" law enforcement officers, the same day of a funeral for a city man who died in police custody.

The department urged officers to take steps to ensure their safety.

The death of 25-year-old Freddie Gray has led to protests in the latest outcry over U.S. law enforcement's treatment of minorities. Police say Gray died of a neck injury on April 19 after being arrested on April 12.

At the funeral, a long line of mourners stretched out of the front door of the New Shiloh Baptist Church.

"I am here to show that Freddie's loss of life was not in vain," said Joe Jones, head of the Center for Urban Families, which provides aid to local residents.

"There's a lot of frustration, a lot of disappointment," he said. "This is a microcosm of things that are happening" to young black men across the United States.

Gray's body, clad in a white shirt, black tie and dark pants, lay in an open coffin at the head of the altar of the church, which holds 2,500 people.

A choir accompanied by a small instrumental group performed religious music before the funeral started.

President Barack Obama was sending Broderick Johnson, the head of his initiative for minority males, to attend Gray's funeral, the White House said.

Protests in the largely black city have been mostly peaceful, but vandalism and violence flared during a march on Saturday. Thirty-five people were arrested, six officers were hurt, and Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake and police blamed outside agitators for the unrest.

The protest was the latest expression of a national outcry over a white-dominated U.S. law enforcement establishment that civil rights leaders accuse of routinely mistreating black people.

Gray was arrested when he fled from police in a high-crime area. He was carrying a switchblade knife, and he was put inside a transport van to be taken to a police station.

At some point, Gray suffered the spinal injury that led to his death. City Police Commissioner Anthony Batts said on Friday that officers failed to give him timely medical attention while he was in custody and failed to seatbelt him.

Police have said they would conclude their investigation by Friday and forward the results to state prosecutors. Six police officers have been suspended, and the U.S. Justice Department is investigating the incident for possible civil rights violations.

(Editing by Scott Malone and Lisa Von Ahn)

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Someone who dies in Mississippi this year is far more likely to be buried than someone who dies in Oregon.

We looked at data from the National Funeral Directors Association's 2015 projections for burial rates and cremation rates in each state. Nationally, the Association projects that cremations will outnumber burials in the US: 48.2% of this year's deceased will be cremated, as opposed to 45.8% being buried.

On the state by state level, cremation is much more popular in the West. In Nevada, 77.8% of bodies are projected to be cremated. Meanwhile, burials still predominate in the Appalachian South.

Here's a map showing the geographical variance in funeral types. States that are purple have higher burial rates than cremation rates, while orange states have higher cremation than burial rates. Darker states have bigger percentage point differences between burial rates and cremation rates:

And here's a chart showing burial and cremation rates in each state, ordered from where cremation is most likely to least likely:

SEE ALSO: This is when you're going to die

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Dying is expensive. The average cost of a funeral with burial and headstone ranges from $7,000 to $10,000. 

But a less costly alternative to this traditional practice has been gaining popularity in recent years: Cremation. 

For about a decade, if you had a couple thousand dollars at the minimum then "memorial diamonds" made from the carbon found in ashes were an alternative to a traditional urn. Now, a new company with a lower cost technique and greater attention to design will transform your loved one's ashes into a treasured keepsake.   

Grateful Glass

Grateful Glass was started in 2012 by 31-year-old Matthew Olian. The company offers everything from hand-blown glass pendants, rings, and cuffs to sparkling orbs and urns made with Pyrex glass and, of course, ash.

Olian got started blowing glass as a sophomore in high school after watching a documentary on famous sculptor Dale Chihuly. Soon after, Olian's mother allowed him to set up his own small studio in their garage.

Through college at the University of Vermont and during an apprenticeship in Murano, Italy, he continued to hone his craft, and by 2007, Olian was spending most of his time on the road, traveling from trade show to trade show to show his work.

During one of his shows, a customer asked Olian to make a memorial pendant. Having never heard of the concept, Olian was surprised, but determined.He took on the order and, within a few weeks, he managed to deliver the piece.

"It was one of those moments where I was like 'Wow, this is a really special concept, and I don't think anyone else is doing it and I should run with it,'" Olian recalls.

"It was a pretty special feeling to give this[customer] such happiness through my work," he said.

With a little research, Olian discovered how many people were turning to cremation, and realized he'd found an untapped market for memorial keepsakes. Even once he'd recognized this potential business opportunity, Olian still had no idea how — or even if he could — create a company out of the idea.

It was around thistime that Olian's grandmother fell ill and became increasingly sick. She had no idea that her illness would leave behind a special gift that allowed Grateful Glass to, quite literally, rise from the ashes.

Olian needed sample pieces to show his clients, he recalled, and his grandmother told him it was her wish to be cremated.

"By the time I had decided this is what I wanted to do, she had just passed away," said Olian. "So all of the sample pieces are made from her ashes.” 

Close to a decade after his journey with glassmaking began, Olian launched Grateful Glass. Word of his new business spread — he quickly connected himself with a large network of funeral homes around the country.

The process

Today, Olian continues to create all of his pieces by hand, with occasional assistance from interns. 

First, he receives the ash from his customers, which is mostly bone, and is made up of calcium phosphates and small traces of other minerals. Then, he combines it with molten glass using his own encasement methods unique to each piece he designs. Over the years, he said he's found the perfect combination of temperature and time to produce a piece of glass that showcases cremated remains in the best way possible.

Given the subtle chemical variations in remains, the ashes react differently with the glass each time, Olian said.

"Sometimes the encased ashes look like a myriad of flecks while others create more organic bubble patterns. Sometimes they even produce interesting colors through the piece," said Olian. 

Olian also makes keepsakes for people's pets.

In fact, he estimates that between 35% and 40% of his orders are for former dog and cat owners. While he works with pet crematories, Olian says most of his customers who are looking for pet memorials find him by searching online.  

"Something you can always keep on you"

Although he wouldn’t reveal specific numbers to Business Insider, Olian did tell us that he receives orders for his pieces daily and ships them all over the world. Last year, he said, the business grew by 25% on pieces that range from $150 to $375. He is also commissioned to make unique pieces for several thousand dollars, he said.

Due to the delicate nature and sensitivity of his business, Olian says he does most of his promotion through word-of-mouth and his funeral home network, but he also has a Facebook page filled with comments from happy customers.

But he adds, "Having something tangible can provide a lot of comfort and a lot of closure particularly if it’s something on a smaller scale that you can always keep on you."

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For some eccentric souls, traditional caskets and cremation urns just won’t do.

Luckily, for those looking to leave this world on a more outlandish note, there are options out there to help fulfill those somewhat bizarre afterlife requests.

From odes to beloved comic book heroes to soccer ball urns, click ahead to see some truly out-of-the-box options.

Victor Perez Cardona’s last dying wish was to be behind the wheel of his taxi cab. With help from the funeral home and special embalming techniques, Victor’s family was able to fulfill his request.

For his funeral, Renato Garcia was dressed in the costume of his favorite comic book character, the Green Lantern.

Soccer fans can have their ashes kept in a soccer-shaped urn created by Vienna's municipal funeral services.