Businessman Wages a War Against the Cost of Funerals

Charles Broxholme, an interior design executive, mortician and former jet pilot, is waging a one-man war against the funeral industry.

He says the industry is using “slick marketing” to convince the vulnerable that the dead need all the frills.

“I’m not out to gouge the industry, but I think someone (alive) should be free to give someone (dead) anything they choose and can afford,” said Broxholme, 45, president of Celestial Ministries, a nonprofit group he formed in 1985 to educate the public about the costs associated with death.

“People are not told their options and overspend to the point where they go into debt. Many times insurance rarely picks up cost,” Broxholme said.

To combat the high cost of dying, Broxholme opened a hot line to give free information, counseling and prices for various funeral homes.

Lately, though, Broxholme said he worries about spreading himself too thin. As word got out about his service, the hot line has been ringing off the hook.

And his other business, Creative Contract Interiors, a Santa Monica interior decoration company, has been hustling with a contract to redecorate a group of hotels, he said.

“My passion for this thing is as strong as it’s always been,” he said, “but I’m getting too much publicity.”

Broxholme, who lives in Brentwood, became interested in the costs associated with funerals after spending $4,500 to bury his mother nearly 20 years ago. Later, when his father became ill, Broxholme said he decided to shop around. Prices, he discovered, vary greatly for the same basic services.

Costs for basic funeral services, he said, range from $613 to $1,614--not including headstone, plot or casket.

He also learned that a standard casket sells for about $400 wholesale but can weigh in at as much as $1,200 at a mortuary.

“That’s a higher mark-up than for auto accessories,” Broxholme said.

The high cost of death is a result of a steady national death rate and a growing number of mortuaries, he said.