Alright, so today I’m sharing my process dealing with Anderson Funeral Home in Rugby, ND. Needed funeral arrangements for my uncle who passed suddenly. Started by googling funeral homes near Rugby – Anderson popped up first in search results.
Called them directly around 9 AM Tuesday. The lady who answered sounded real tired, but gave me basic pricing over the phone. Basic cremation $2,100, traditional burial package $6,500. Asked about urn options – they sent me JPEGs via text message that looked like they were taken with a flip phone.
Drove down to Rugby next day. The building smelled like mothballs mixed with lemon cleaner. Met with Dave, the funeral director. Guy wore a suit two sizes too big. Showed me the viewing room – fluorescent lights flickering like a horror movie set. Pointed at a 1980s-style rose-patterned casket saying “this one’s popular.” Charged me $75 just to “reserve a slot” while I decided.
Paperwork was wild. Handwritten forms with carbon copies. Dave misspelled Uncle Bob’s middle name three times. When I asked about digital death certificates, he pulled out a dot-matrix printer from behind a curtain. Said “newfangled systems just break down.”
Day of the service, they forgot to turn on the AC. Temperature hit 85°F with 30 people crammed in. The “sound system” was a portable CD player duct-taped to a folding chair. Played “Amazing Grace” – skipped during the chorus. Couldn’t find the guestbook till halfway through, discovered it under flower arrangements.
Final bill came with handwritten adjustments: “+$20 for extra tissue boxes”, “+$15 for overtime staffing fee.” Tried paying with credit card – their machine “only takes Visa on Thursdays.” Wrote a check while Dave wiped sweat off his forehead with the same handkerchief he’d used to polish casket handles.
Sent flowers afterwards from a Fargo shop. Anderson called asking where to put them cause they “ran out of display space.” Suggested I take them home “before they wilt.” Whole experience felt like time-traveling to 1978. Would’ve been cheaper driving the body to Minot, but hey – small towns operate different.
