Cremation Services
Thinking About Cremation?
As more people are choosing cremation, funeral service
professionals are striving to give consumers a true sense
of what their many options are for a funeral service.
Often funeral directors find that people have a preconception
that they have fewer choices for a ceremony when selecting
cremation for themselves or a loved one. Therefore, they request
direct cremation and deny the surviving friends and family an
opportunity to honor them with a memorial service.
In actuality, cremation is only part of the commemorative experience.
In fact, cremation can actually increase your options when planning a
funeral.
Why a Funeral?
Funerals fill an important role for those mourning the loss of a loved one.
By providing surviving family members and friends a caring, supportive
environment in which to share thoughts and feelings about the death,
funerals are the first step in the healing process. The ritual of
attending
a funeral service provides
many benefits including:
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Providing a social support system for the bereaved.
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Helping the bereaved understand death is final and that
death is part of life.
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Integrating the bereaved back into the community.
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Easing the transition to a new life after the death of a
loved one.
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Providing a safe haven for embracing and expressing
pain.
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Reaffirming one’s relationship with the person who died.
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Providing a time to say good-bye.
It is possible to have a full funeral service even for those
choosing cremation. The importance of the ritual
is in providing a social
gathering to help the bereaved begin the healing process.
Types of Tributes
A funeral is so much more than a way to say goodbye; it’s an opportunity to
celebrate the life of someone special.
Today, a funeral can be as unique as the individual who is being honored.
From simple touches like displaying personal photographs to events created
around a favorite pastime, funerals or memorial services can reflect any
aspect of a person’s life and personality.
Following are questions you can use to help you decide how to personalize a
service:
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What did the person like to do?
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What was the person like as an individual?
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What was the person like as a professional?
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Was the person spiritual?
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Was the person proud of their heritage?
What did the person like to do?
Often people have hobbies that become more than just a casual pastime. Their
activity could have been as much a part of who they were as their smile. Why
not showcase that important part of their life during the funeral or
memorial service?
Incorporating a hobby can be as simple as:
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Displaying items used for their hobby;
e.g. sports equipment, gardening tools,
or collections.
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Personalizing the casket or urn with a
symbol of their hobby.
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Displaying trophies or awards they won.
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Creating a picture board or presentation featuring
pictures of them engaged in their hobby.
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Having someone speak about the person’s passion for the
hobby.
By adding these or other personal touches to a funeral or
memorial, the service becomes a reflection of the person’s life and
personality.
Traditional Cremation
A service with the body present, followed by cremation, is now recognized as
a life-affirming experience. And by allowing friends and family to view the
body, families can be helped to deal with their loss in a positive and
healthy way, acknowledging the reality of death, while celebrating the life
that has been lived.
Contemporary Cremation (
Memorial Service )
This option allows for friends and family to gather together, to support one
another, to
remember and to share, but without the body present. The family is provided
the opportunity to
acknowledge the death and celebrate the life of the individual with a
special gathering of friends and family, followed by a ceremony of remembrance.
Direct Cremation ( Simple Cremation Package
)
In cases where there is no desire to have a gathering or
service of any sort, we provide for the direct disposition of the body.