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This funeral home is introducing a new staff member: A bereavement care dog
Sheldon Ingram
Reporter
This funeral home is introducing a new staff member: A bereavement care dog
PITTSBURGH’S ACTION NEWS 4 REPORTER SHELDON INGMRA INTRODUCES US TO THE NEWEST TEAM MEMBER. >> MANY PEOPLE WILL TELL YOU THE DREAD THE THOUGHT OF EVEN WALKING INTO A FUNERAL HOME. HERE AT SOXMAN IN PENN HIL,LS VISITORS WILL LIKELY EXPERIENCE SOMETHING THEY’VE NEVER SEEN BEFORE, OR EVEN EXPECTED, A MONITOR ANNOUNCES LILO THE BEREAVEMENT CARE DOG AS A WNE STAFF MEMBER. >> CAN YOU GIVE IT TO ANNA? THANK YOU SO MH.UC GIVE ME A HIGH FI.VE WELL DONE. >> I’VE HAD FAMILIES THAT TALK TO EVER BEFORE THEY EVEN TALKED TO ME, SHE JUST HAS A WAY OF BRINGING SOME WARMTH TO A RELY SAD TIME. >> AS WAS THE CASE FORON R RICH ' ’S FAMILY. HE SUFFERED A HEART ATTACK AND DIED JULY 21 HE WAS 76. AGNES BOYD DIED TWO DAYS LATER AFTER A LONG LIFE SHE WAS 95. >> WE WERE FORTUNATE TO HAVE MY THERMO THAT LONG. COMING TO THE FUNERAL MEHO MAKING ARRANGEMENTS IS ALWAYS DIFFICULT, JUST A LOT OF GRI,EF SOMETHING I’VE NEVER FELT BERE.FO AND I JUST KEPT THINKING THIS IS ALL A BAD DREAM, BUT THEN THOSE FAMILIES MET LILO AS THEY PLANNED FOR FURANEL SERVICESN THE MIDST OF THEIR SADSSNE. >> I FELT THAT SHE SENSED THE SADNESS IN THE ROOM, AND I JUST FELT HER COMFORT. THERE’S A SENSE OF COMFORT AND TRANILQUITY. THERE WERE TIMES WHERE SHE EVEN CAME UP TO US AND PLACED HER CHIN ON OUR KNEES. >> THE PARTHAT T I REALLY NOTICED WAS THE GREAT-GRANDCHILDREN, THAT THEY WERE VERY NERVOUS, FIRST TIME THEY HAD EXPERIENCED ANYTHING LIKE THAT. SHE DEFINITELY MADE A DIFFERENCE LOOSENING THEM UP, LETNGTI THEM BE THEMSELVES. >> LILO LEFT AN IMPRESSION. >> EVEN PEOPLE WHO ARE NOT DOG LOVERS CAN’T HELP BUT BE PUT AT EASE WITH LILO. >> HER MISSIONS I SIMPLE, BRING A FRESH MOMENT OF COMFORT. >> LO,IL SHE LOOKS AT YOU WITH THOSE EYES AND THE FAMILY TAKES THE ALL IN AND YOU CAN JUST SEE THEM TAKE A SIGH OF RELIE
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This funeral home is introducing a new staff member: A bereavement care dog
Sheldon Ingram
Reporter
In the eyes of Soxman Funeral Home, dogs are a major anchor in the homes and lives of so many people, so they added a service dog to their staff. Lilo, the yellow Labrador Retriever, is one of the greeters to visitors who walk through the doors of this Pittsburgh-area funeral home, often in perhaps their saddest and most mournful moments.Soxman Funeral Home director and co-owner Anna Nesbit said the 3-year-old Lab has a profound impact on those who interact with her."She just has a way of bringing some warmth to a really sad time. She just looks up at you with those eyes and the families take that all in and you just watch them take a sigh of relief," Nesbit said. Clyde Boyd said he is grateful that Lilo was onboard when he chose Soxman Funeral Home to prepare his mother's funeral service.Agnes Boyd was 95 years old and is survived by great-grandchildren, among other relatives.Clyde says being inside the funeral home was a first for the great-grandkids, but Lilo erased a lot of their uneasiness."The part I really noticed was the great-grandchildren, they were very nervous and it was the first time they ever experienced anything like that, and she definitely made a difference, loosening them up, letting them be themselves," Clyde said. Watch the full story in the video player above.
PITTSBURGH —

In the eyes of Soxman Funeral Home, dogs are a major anchor in the homes and lives of so many people, so they added a service dog to their staff.

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Lilo, the yellow Labrador Retriever, is one of the greeters to visitors who walk through the doors of this Pittsburgh-area funeral home, often in perhaps their saddest and most mournful moments.

Soxman Funeral Home director and co-owner Anna Nesbit said the 3-year-old Lab has a profound impact on those who interact with her.

"She just has a way of bringing some warmth to a really sad time. She just looks up at you with those eyes and the families take that all in and you just watch them take a sigh of relief," Nesbit said.

Clyde Boyd said he is grateful that Lilo was onboard when he chose Soxman Funeral Home to prepare his mother's funeral service.

Agnes Boyd was 95 years old and is survived by great-grandchildren, among other relatives.

Clyde says being inside the funeral home was a first for the great-grandkids, but Lilo erased a lot of their uneasiness.

"The part I really noticed was the great-grandchildren, they were very nervous and it was the first time they ever experienced anything like that, and she definitely made a difference, loosening them up, letting them be themselves," Clyde said.

Watch the full story in the video player above.