Sympathy flowers in Pittsburgh

The religious detail is not decoration here; it changes what you should send. In Squirrel Hill, one of the most continuously Jewish urban neighborhoods in the country, the two chapels that carry most of the work are Ralph Schugar Chapel at 5509 Centre Avenue and the Burton L. Hirsch Funeral Home at 2704 Murray Avenue. A Jewish funeral is usually held within a day or two of the death, and flowers are not customary at the service — the appropriate gesture is a plant, a fruit basket or a food tray sent to the shiva house after the burial, or a donation in the deceased's memory. Say the family is Jewish when you order and the studio will route a plant to the home instead of a spray to the chapel. Catholic families across Bloomfield, Lawrenceville, Polish Hill, the South Side, Troy Hill, Carrick and the Mon Valley mill towns follow the full two-day pattern, with the Mass at a home parish and St. Paul Cathedral in Oakland for the larger diocesan services. Pittsburgh is also the seat of the Byzantine Catholic Archeparchy, with its cathedral in Munhall, and the Mon Valley kept Slovak, Croatian, Serbian, Hungarian and Carpatho-Rusyn parishes alive long after the mills closed — for those families a panachida or parastas is often served the evening before, and flowers belong at the chapel for it. Greek Orthodox services route through the cathedral in Oakland. Black-church funerals at congregations including Ebenezer Baptist and Central Baptist in the Hill District and Mount Ararat Baptist in Larimer frequently run a Saturday morning service with the arrangements delivered Friday afternoon.