The COVID-19 pandemic has made it difficult to honor the lives of loved ones.

Zizelmann-Gulla Funeral Home and Cremation Services Inc. in Tamaqua is doing everything possible to make its services as comfortable and special as possible.

“We started thinking about what it would mean for families who lost someone once it became clear that COVID-19 would be causing social disruption,” said Director Eric Zizelmann. “It didn’t seem fair that grief would be made all the more difficult because of the restrictions, and we wanted to lessen the loss of support for those grieving.”

There are strict public gathering regulations and limitations across the state, so Zizelmann and his staff are innovating.

A service for Gladys Stoudt, of Drums, was held at Zizelmann’s recently. Stoudt was born in Tamaqua and was a 1946 graduate of Tamaqua High School. Not everyone could attend to celebrate her life. Zizelmann’s livestreamed her service so family and friends could be a part of her day.

“Livestreaming the funeral was the first thing that came to mind because we had done that a few times before,” Zizelmann said. “The livestream worked very well, but you need to be careful; anyone who appears on camera, whether a participant or someone that attended the funeral, needs to give written consent. To make sure that we didn’t have signal issues, we asked Cloud Service Center to install a second wireless access point. It gave us a much stronger signal, and I slept a bit easier - you always worry about the things that could go wrong.”

Special messages from friends and family were displayed on a card on top of each chair at the service. Attached and tied to the top the chairs were beautiful pink balloons.

“I don’t remember which of us made the initial suggestion about the balloons,” said Zizelmann. “The idea evolved a bit, but it ended up working well. The people who called for balloons were extremely glad for the opportunity to do something unique to support the family, and being able to see the family’s reaction when they came through the door was very gratifying.”

The opportunity to write a custom card for Gladys was posted on Zizelmann’s Facebook, on Gladys’ obituary on the funeral home website and in the newspaper obituary.

“All they needed to do was call the funeral home or email their name, their condolence, and a contact phone number. Gladys’ brother passed away in another state just hours before she did, so many of those family members seemed to especially appreciate the chance to bring the family together without being here. Some of the other balloons came from former neighbors and members of Gladys’ church.”

Zizelmann said it was the first service that featured balloons, but with positive feedback, it won’t be the last. Just like many small businesses, the funeral home will continue to adjust throughout the coronavirus outbreak.

“It has been frustrating and stressful, and we’re all still learning to adapt,” Zizelmann said. “I’ve been encouraged though to see other businesses and organizations doing unique things to get us all through. My family took my wife out this morning (earlier this week) to celebrate Nurses Day, so we ate our breakfast in the car at Skipper Dippers. The owners said they’ve also been trying to think unconventionally, and it’s worked very well for them. What choice do we have but to keep adapting and making a difficult situation a bit better?”