PITTSBURGH _ Family members prayed beside the grave, listened as Colin Aikens sang "Time to Say Goodbye" and placed white roses on Norbert Coyne McDermott III's coffin before they left Mount Royal Cemetery in Shaler, Pa.
But as business associates, friends and legions of cousins bid farewell to the lighthearted Irishman on Saturday, they stood alone or in small groups, honoring his family's request to stand at a distance "to preserve the lives of our cherished elders."
A livestreaming camera, microphone and speaker allowed mourners to see and hear the funeral service, but they also learned a hard truth in the age of COVID-19: You might have to grieve alone, without comforting hugs from friends and family.
Mr. McDermott's fun-loving nature made him the unofficial activities director of the Shaler High School class of 1978, said his widow, Terri Hardt McDermott. For 42 years, he hosted a Christmas in July party that began with cutting down a tree at a Butler County farm, followed by cocktails and a turkey dinner.
After a seven-year battle with cancer, he died at age 60 on St. Patrick's Day.
People closest to Mr. McDermott visited him as he lay dying in his Hampton home. But at Neely Funeral Home, due to the pandemic, there was no visitation. Only immediate family members and a handful of very close friends were present.
"He had a very giving heart. For people not to be able to share that in return _ that was very, very hard," said John Cigna, of Shaler, Mr. McDermott's lifelong friend and business partner.
Inside the funeral home, Mr. Cigna stood several feet from the open coffin and eulogized the man he met in the fourth grade at St. Bonaventure elementary school in 1969.
"We always said he was angelic until he met me," Mr. Cigna joked.
Outside, in the parking lot, men sipped Crown Royal Canadian whisky, their late friend's favorite libation.
The hourlong funeral service was streamed live on a private Facebook page to 100 viewers. Emily Austin, a Ross real estate agent, set it up and asked her husband, Johnny, to film it.
"We knew that he had many close friends and that it would be important for them to have the livestream," Mrs. McDermott said. "When it's streamed live and posted, it can make a difference in people's lives. People can go back and watch it again."
For at least the past five years, some Pennsylvania funeral directors have livestreamed services, said Kathleen K. Ryan, executive director and counsel for the Pennsylvania Funeral Directors Association. The practice will likely become more common since Gov. Tom Wolf ordered Pennsylvania residents to limit gatherings to 10 or fewer people. Ms. Ryan said funeral directors have followed that rule since the announcement last week.
On Saturday, a 100-car funeral procession of vehicles decorated in Christmas ornaments, lights, Irish flags and cans of Guinness beer led to the cemetery, where a 3-foot-tall ketchup bottle made of papier-mache testified to Mr. McDermott's liberal use of the condiment on cottage cheese.
With her 18-year-old son, Coyne, the widow drove her late husband's electric blue Corvette out of the cemetery, leading mourners past her late husband's favorite places _ the home of his mother, Patricia, who survives him, Shaler High School and St. Bonaventure Roman Catholic Church, where he was a regular communicant and lector.
Later this year, Mrs. McDermott said, friends and family will gather for a Mass to honor her husband's memory and, afterward, celebrate his life.
