Funerals, Memorials & Ceremonies

Just as we have ceremonies for baptisms, graduations, and weddings, we have funeral and memorial ceremonies which allow family and friends to gather and pay tribute to a unique life that has been lived. When someone close to us dies, we need to say good-bye. The funeral is a service for the living that allows friends and relatives to offer comfort and support to one another. The funeral permits a time for expression of feelings and helps us to accept the reality of our loss.

Role of the Funeral Director

When a death occurs, there are many decisions to be made. Our funeral directors are trained and licensed to handle all technical arrangements and to counsel on many personal aspects of a funeral. Funeral directors provide service in many areas including: professional services, facilities, and automotive equipment.

Professional Services Include:

Removing the deceased from the place of death and transfer to the funeral home, embalming and preparation of the body for services and viewing, obtaining the necessary and required legal documents, consulting with the family, clergy, and others to make service arrangements, placing obituaries with appropriate media, contacting the cemetery or crematory, providing staff services for visitation and services.

Facilities Include:

Providing or arranging for a place for visitation and the service. This may be the funeral home or the family's church.

Automotive Equipment Includes:

The use of cars available to the family such as the funeral coach, family car, and pall bearers car.

Role of Funeral Services

A traditional funeral with the body present for viewing and visitation is one ceremony which allows survivors to accept the death and begin the grieving process.

When a life ends, all that remains is the body of the man, woman, or child whom we loved and who loved us in return. And when we remember that person, we think of their physical body. When a life ends our mind requires evidence. By viewing the body we acknowledge that a death has occurred. We confirm that a life has been lived and is now over. Viewing allows the living to confront the fact of death.

The funeral service may take many forms. Whether the service is held at the funeral home or the church, the service should meet the needs of the surviving family. We can help you with any special requests that will personalize and add meaning to the service.