Jews in the D
14 | APRIL 30 • 2020
‘More Than Just Statistics’:
Losing a Loved One During COVID-19
Funeral homes and family members move through unfamiliar territories
after losing a loved one during the COVID-19 pandemic.
CORRIE COLF STAFF WRITER
continued on page 16
D
uring this unprecedented time,
funeral homes and families of those
who have lost loved ones to the
coronavirus are searching for ways to nav-
igate unfamiliar ways of mourning. While
private graveside services and streamed
online services are occurring, families still
are searching for that fulfilled sense of hon-
oring and memorializing their loved ones.
Jonathan Dorfman, co-owner of the
Dorfman Chapel in Farmington Hills, told
the Jewish News that around 70% of funer-
als in the past month have been COVID
related.
“The hard part right now is just families
not being allowed to be there with their
family members and not being able to cel-
ebrate their lives like they normally would,
”
Dorfman said. “Everything is being limited
to 10 people or fewer, so it is just a difficult
time emotionally for families and for us,
too.
”
Dorfman and the staff are making sure
they are available to honor the wishes of
families they are working with.
“Trying to help families has been very
difficult for us. We are trying to livestream
all services so families can have others out
of state watch the service,
” Dorfman said.
“One of the options a lot of people have
talked about is doing something at a later
date, maybe some type of public memori-
al service, or we have been talking about
doing Zoom shivahs right now so they can
still help celebrate their life in a way that
works right now.
”
Jacquelyn Bell lost her mother, JoAnn
Bell, 73, on March 30 due to the coronavi-
rus. The family had a private family grave-
side service officiated by Rabbi Tamara
Kolton on April 2. JoAnn was a beloved
wife of 51 years to Marshall Bell, mother of
Jacquelyn and Gregory, and nana to Jonah
and Riley Bell.
JoAnn Bell was living in TowneHall
Place, an assisted living facility in West
Bloomfield, because she was battling multi-
ple sclerosis. On March 27, she was admit-
ted to St. Joseph Mercy Hospital in Pontiac
and diagnosed with double pneumonia.
“The hardest part for us, and I believe
for her, too, was knowing she was all alone
there,
” Jacquelyn Bell said. “Usually my dad,
my brother and I would go visit constantly,
but instead we had to just receive updates
from the doctors and nurses. On March 28,
her test came back positive for COVID-19.
”
Each day her mother’
s progression wors-
ened, before she passed away on March 30.
Due to the gathering restrictions, the family
had to have a private family graveside ser-
vice with only immediate family there. They
streamed the funeral online so other family
and friends could watch it.
“In the Jewish community, especially,
you have this funeral where you can show
your respect to the family and can see your
friends, and I would have been able to be
close to her and this was just devastating
trying to make funeral arrangements,
” Bell
said. “We could only have 10 people at the
graveside service, and we all had to social
distance ourselves from each other. We
couldn’
t even comfort each other and truly
be there for one another.
”
However, Bell is grateful for the Ira
Kaufman Chapel and Rabbi Kolton for pro-
viding as much comfort as they could, given
the circumstances. Besides the live-stream
service, they had family and friends send in
emails and messages about the memories
they once shared with her mother.
“Whenever anyone thinks of my mom,
they just think of her big smile. She just
had this huge smile and would be so happy
whenever anyone would come visit her,
”
Bell said. “This just feels like a fresh, open
wound because I don’
t feel like we were able
to have the proper closure and memorialize
her the way it should have been.
”
David Techner of the Ira Kaufman
Chapel in Southfield told the JN that rough-
ly 20-25 funerals they have overseen in the
past 5 weeks have been related to COVID-
19. However, that number could be higher.
If somebody was not tested for the virus
PHOTOS COURTESY OF JACQUELYN BELL
RIGHT: The Bell family: JoAnn, Marshall, son Gregory, daughter Jacquelyn and grandchildren Jonah and Riley.
JoAnn Bell
and husband
Marshall Bell