|  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.
Q. What
information will the funeral home need during the
arrangement conference?
A. The funeral home will
need the legal name of the deceased, address, place
of birth, date of
birth, fathers name, mothers maiden name, social security
number, military information (DD214), highest level
of education, surviving family members, and any other
information that you think will be helpful.
Q. Is
an outside container (vault) required by law?
A. There is no law that requires
a family to purchase an outside container. Some cemeteries
may have cemetery regulations that say that the cemetery
requires a outside container.
Q. What
does a vault do?
A. A vault or outside container
is designed to keep the wieght of the earth off of
the casket to
protect it from damage. There are two basic types
of vaults, steel and concrete.
Q. Does
social security pay a death benefit ($255.00) on everyone?
A. No, social security will
only pay to a surviving spouse.
Q. What
are caskets made of?
A. Caskets are made of four
types of material:
- Bronze and Copper - Non-Rusting
- Stainless Steel - Rust Resistant
- Wood - Species include (Oak, Pecan, Cherry, Mahogany,
Maple, Walnut, etc)
- Steel - built in 16 gauge, 18 gauge, and 20 gauge.
Q. What
clothing will be needed?
A. The family will need
to bring the dress, gown, suit, jeans, or whatever
clothing that has been
chosen to the funeral home. The funeral home will
also need socks, t-shirt, undercloths, and shoes (optional).
Q. How
many pallbearers will be needed?
A. At least 6 pallbeares
are needed with some families choosing to use 8. There
can also be
as many honorary pallbearers as the family wants to
use.
"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.
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 the 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 to 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 information and create an obituary for placement
in the newspaper and/or website of the 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, 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,
grief counseling, 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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