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"Why Do We Have Funerals"
It's important to recognize that
funerals and memorial ceremonies are for the living
... for those who are affected by the loss of a
loved one. It is through the funeral process that
a number of emotional needs are met for those who
grieve.
A funeral is similar to other ceremonies in our
lives. Like a graduation ceremony, a wedding, a
baptism, and a bar mitzvah, a funeral is a rite
of passage by which we recognize an important event
that distinguishes our lives.
The funeral declares that a death has occurred.
It celebrates the life that has been lived, and
offers family and friends the opportunity to pay
tribute to their loved one.
The gathering of family and friends for a time of
sharing and funeral service helps to provide emotional
support so needed at this time. This will help those
who grieve to face the reality of death and consequently,
to take the first step toward a healthy emotional
adjustment.
The funeral can and does take on many varied forms.
Funerals can last from minutes to months and are
usually influenced by the lifestyle and values of
the bereaved family and friends.
"What Options Are Available
in Services and Disposition?"
A valuable aspect of contemporary funerals is their
individuality. Whether a ceremony is elaborate or
simple, funerals are often individualized to reflect
the life of the deceased and to hold special meaning
for family and other survivors. It may reflect one's
religious beliefs as a reaffirmation of faith in
a greater life beyond this world.
It may reflect the occupation or hobbies of the
deceased. It may center around an ethnic background
or social affiliation.
In our society, three basic forms of final disposition
are practiced. The first is earth burial which continues
to be the form of disposition chosen most often.
Cremation is also a choice. This is a process of
preparing the body for final disposition whereby
the body is reduced by intense heat over several
hours to a few pounds of small fragments. These
cremated remains are usually placed in an urn which
may be buried, placed in a memorial niche, or kept
in some other location. Cremated remains may also
be scattered where permitted by law.
Finally, entombment in a crypt is also a choice
and is one of the oldest forms of disposition. Today
many cemeteries maintain crypts for entombment which
may be in a mausoleum or in an outdoor garden.
"What Does a
Funeral Director Do?"
It has been estimated that over 136 individual activities
must take place in order for one funeral to be conducted.
The funeral director is actually an organizational
specialist.
Here is a condensed list of some of the more visible
activities of a typical funeral director.
- Removal and transferring the
deceased from place of death to Funeral Home.
- Professional care of the deceased,
which may include sanitary washing, embalming
preparation, restorative art, dressing, hairdressing,
casketing and cosmetology.
- Conduct a complete consultation
with family members to gather necessary information
and discuss specific arrangements for a funeral.
- File all certificates, permits,
affidavits, and authorizations, as may be required.
- Acquire a requested amount of
certified copies of the death certificate needed
to settle the estate of the deceased.
- Compile an obituary and place
in newspapers of a family's choice.
- Make arrangements with a family's
choice of clergy person, church, music, etc.
- Make arrangements with cemetery,
crematory, or other place of disposition.
- The providing of a register
book, prayer cards, funeral folders, and acknowledgements,
as requested by a family.
- Offer the assistance of notifying
relatives and friends.
- Arrange for clergy honorariums,
music, flowers, death certificates, obituaries,
additional transportation, etc.
- Care and arrangement of floral
pieces and the post funeral distribution as
directed by a family.
- Arrange for pallbearers, automobiles,
and special services (fraternal or military)
as requested by a family
- Care and preservation of all
floral cards, mass cards, or other memorial
contributions presented to the funeral home.
- Your funeral director, with
his/her staff personnel, will direct the funeral
in a most professional manner, and be in complete
charge of the funeral procession to the cemetery
or other place of disposition.
- Assist a family with social
security, veterans insurance, and other death-related
claims.
- A post funeral meeting, by the
funeral director, with a family, to deliver
such things as the register book, floral and
mass cards, and to ascertain whether or not
he/she can be of further assistance.
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