This paper analyzes the deathcare services industry in terms of its economic impact on young widows. I examine the financial impact of a husband’s sudden death by studying funeral services purchased on an atneed basis. Then, I assess how prolonged death due to illness alters the bereavement process of and financial impacts on young widows. I find that the mode of death is a predictor of the cost of the deathcare services incurred by the newly widowed.