MINOT, N.D. – The increase in COVID-19 deaths means more families have been laying their loved ones to rest.

A Minot couple who works within the funeral industry is trying to make each one as special as they can, despite how many they’ve been seeing lately.

Niki Brose owns Flower Central in Minot.

She says during non-pandemic times, her flower shop services around five to seven funerals a week.

This year, the weekly average doubled.

Her husband, Jeff, is the funeral director at Brose Funeral Home in Mohall.

In six weeks, he had 18 funerals. That’s in a town with a population of just under 750.

He says he usually sees an average of around 35 funerals in an entire year.

“Funeral home in a small town, you can get really, crazy busy and then I have a long slow spell. But with this pandemic going on, it’s just been a constant…craziness,” Jeff said.

Jeff says over the last 16 years that he’s owned the funeral home, he’s gotten to know all of the families in Mohall — and they all feel like family to him.