Frequently Asked Questions

Funerals fill an important role for those mourning the loss of a loved one. By providing surviving family and friends with an atmosphere of care and support in which to share thoughts and feelings about death, funerals are the first step in the healing process. It is the traditional way to recognize the finality of death. Funerals are recognized rituals for the living to show their respect for the dead and to help survivors begin the grieving process.

You can have a full funeral service even for those choosing cremation. Planning a personalized ceremony or service will help begin the healing process. Overcoming the pain is never easy, but a meaningful funeral or tribute will help.

• Pick up the deceased and transport the body to the funeral home (anytime day or night)
• Notify proper authorities, family, and/or relatives
• Arrange and prepare death certificates
• Provide certified copies of death certificates for insurance and benefit processing
• Work with insurance agents and government agencies to ensure that necessary paperwork is filed for receipt of benefits
• Prepare and submit obituary to the newspaper(s) of your choice
• Bathe and embalm the deceased body, if necessary
• Prepare the body for viewing including dressing and cosmetizing
• Assist the family with funeral arrangements and purchase of casket, urn, burial vault, and cemetery plot
• Schedule the opening and closing of the grave with cemetery personnel, if a burial is to be performed
• Coordinate with clergy if a funeral or memorial service is to be held
• Arrange a police escort and transportation to the funeral and/or cemetery for the family
• Order funeral sprays and other flower arrangements as the family wishes
• Provide aftercare to the bereaved

If you request immediate assistance, yes. If the family wishes to spend a short time with the deceased to say good-bye, that's perfectly acceptable. Your funeral director will come when your time is right.

Burial in a casket is the most common method of disposing of remains, although entombment also occurs. Cremation is increasingly selected because it can be less expensive and allows for the memorial service to be held at a more convenient time in the future when relatives and friends can come together.

A funeral service followed by cremation need not be any different from a funeral service followed by a burial. Usually, cremated remains are placed in urn before being committed to a final resting place. The urn may be buried, placed in an indoor or outdoor mausoleum or columbarium, or interred in a special urn garden that many cemeteries provide for cremated remains. 

Viewing is a part of many cultural and religious traditions. Many grief specialists believe that viewing aids the grief process by helping the bereaved recognize the reality of death. Viewing is encouraged for children, as long as the process is explained and the activity is voluntary.

The preparation of the deceased may involve a variety of tasks done by a licensed embalmer. The body is temporarily preserved through embalming and refrigeration. Embalming sanitizes and preserves the body, allowing family members more time to arrange and hold funeral services after their loved one's passing. After embalming, the deceased is washed, dressed, groomed, and placed in a casket for viewing.

The Celebrant Foundation and Institute define celebrants as "trained professionals who believe in the power and effectiveness of ceremony and ritual to serve basic needs of society and the individual. The Celebrant's mission is to help the client create a ceremony that reflects his or her beliefs, philosophy of life, and personality." 

Families with no ties to a clergy or religious affiliations might find a life-cycle celebrant to be especially valuable. The involvement of a celebrant in the process has been found to enhance the experience for the family. 

If you feel that getting the services of a celebrant is something that your family needs, feel free to contact us for more details.

With cremation, your options are numerous. The cremains can be interred in a cemetery plot, i.e., earth burial, retained by a family member, usually in an urn, scattered on private property, or at a place that was significant to the deceased. (It would always be advisable to check for local regulations regarding scattering in a public place-your funeral director can help you with this.)

Today, there are many different types of memorial options from which to choose. Memorialization is a time-honored tradition that has been practiced for centuries. A memorial serves as a tribute to a life lived and provides a focal point for remembrance, as well as a record for future generations. The type of memorial you choose is a personal decision.

Aside from being a visual expression of our grief, sympathy, respect, and love to the deceased, flowers create a beautiful backdrop of warmth which contributes to the dignity of the service.