It should be noted that the article says it was attended by the mayor and city's police chief. I'm assuming quite a few more less notable people also came. I would also assume this increases the cost.
You need to provide more things the more people come. Also, when the state is at fault for the death, maybe they should pay for it. However, most of this one was paid for by donations after Trump refused (which I assume would have come from his own money or his campaign money had he not, but IDK), which you'd know if you read the article.
In the US, funeral homes try to get as much money out of you as possible because they know you are emotionally vulnerable. There are exposes on funeral homes having predatory services.
They can be, sadly. It depends where you live, where you have someone buried, and what services and coffin and whatnot you get. But yeah, the funeral business in the US is pretty crazy greedy. $60k is definitely on the higher end. According to a quick Google, my state's average funeral cost is around $8k, with the total cost (including mortuary services, etc) around $20k.
Have I? Yes, yes I have. I live fairly comfortably in a house that I own with a good job to pay the bills. But I volunteer with people that are not in the same situation and it's heartbreaking. People that can't afford to pay for unexpected expenses like a car breaking down. So they lose the job then lose their place of residence.
Vets, people with disabilities or even people that messed up early in life can struggle.
Why are people downvoting this? Do they think funerals, cremation, and burals are free somehow? They must think funeral homes are community service provided out of the kindness of the owners hearts.