We pay respect to the deceased person, it is important for everyone
People say goodbye to a person, it's normal in the 21st century
Saying goodbye to a person is normal but what does it mean saying goodbye to a corpse? It's utter trash, IMO. The only sensible goodbye one can say is to take good care of someone when they are sick or in lack, not when they're dead. Dead people don't have feelings. I think people just want to shoe off during funerals (especially in Africa) of how affluent and wealthy they are. That's just it, not as if they truly care.
A corpse is indeed just that, I agree.
But a person who once lived has a soul, which we can neither confirm nor deny the fact until we ourselves had gone through that death or near-death experience for ourselves.
Nonetheless, caring for a loved one even before they're born (while inside a mother's womb), knowing them well while growing up (as a sibling, extended family member or friend), including having personal and/or business relationships (throughout the person's life experiences), or maybe while taking care of them when they're sick are all the possible circumstances that a person may experience with another while they're still living in this world.
Respect though is another story altogether, for when you leave this world, you leave it alone. But for those you left behind, they are the ones who mourn and pray for their dearly departed loved ones instead.