How do you talk about death?

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I've noticed that some people are very afraid to talk about death, so much so that a particular commonly used construction is a pet peeve around my house. "He passed." We always ask, "he passed what? A test? An object? Another vehicle? What did he pass?" It seems like the more afraid of death a person is, or the more gentle they are trying to be, the more vague they are. The extreme of this is the statement above. I think it comes from superstition, of the same type that caused an African woman to be completely ostracized by her husband, employer and community after she'd survived Ebola. She used to be successful, even moderately prosperous. Now she goes from shack to shack, living a hand to mouth existence with her four children. All because people didn't want to be near her out of superstition. Death, just like Ebola, can be a very sad thing. Can't we be a bit more matter of fact about it, and at least add one or two more words? He passed away. She passed into the West. Or, horror of horrors, he died. How do you refer to death where you are?