Cremation

Cremation Services

The number of people choosing cremation increased significantly during the past few years, but cremation itself remains unchanged. It is simply the process of reducing the body to bone fragments through the application of intense heat. What is done before or after the cremation process is up to the family or to you. You can make pre-need arrangements so that your wishes will be honored.

Contrary to what some people believe, cremation does not limit one’s choices, but, in fact, increases one’s options. It need not be liked upon as being a break in family or religious traditions. Cremation, in fact, is only one part in a series of events that leads to memorialization.

Cremation and the Funeral

The choice of cremation in no way eliminates a funeral. A traditional or contemporary-type service is often planned to take place before the cremation process.

A funeral service followed by cremation need not be different than a funeral service followed by ground burial. The funeral service can be elaborate or simple; it can be traditional or non-traditional. Today, arrangements are as individual as the persons for whom and by whom they are made. A ceremony may be personalized to reflect the life of the deceased and, thus, have special meaning for those present.

Planning the Ceremony

In making arrangements for a funeral ceremony, it is important to communicate your wishes or those of the deceased to the professional caregivers. They are there to serve you and to give advice and direction about available service options. They can help you plan a personalized service that will be a meaningful final event – a commemoration of a life lived.

Your view of what makes up a funeral ceremony may vary significantly from that of another person or even from that of the funeral service professional. You need to convey exactly what you want the funeral service to include.

Do you want a period of visitation prior to the service?
Do you want an open or closed casket?
With cremation you have the option of buying or renting a casket.
Do you want special music?
Do you want the ceremony at the funeral chapel or your place of worship?
Do you want family and or friends to participate in the ceremony?

These and other decisions are for you to make. Keep in mind that funerals do not belong to funeral directors, but to the family of the deceased or to you, if you are planning your last rites in advance of need.

Cremation and Memorialization

Once the funeral service has been arranged, including cremation, arrangements should be made for establishing a permanent memorial to serve as a focal point for remembrance. Options for memorialization are many and can be discussed with a funeral director or with a representative of the memorial facility.

The disposition of cremated remains is influenced by the type of memorialization desired. Usually cremated remains are placed in some type of permanent receptacle, referred to as an urn, before being committed to a final resting place. The container may be:

placed in an indoor or outdoor mausoleum or columbarium;
interred in a family burial plot;
interred in a special urn garden that many cemeteries provide for cremated remains.

Cremated remains also may be scattered in cemetery gardens especially created and dedicated for this purpose. Individuals whose remains have been scattered in the garden can be identified by name on a special memorial plaque, marker or artwork or in a Book of Remembrance in a building on the cemetery grounds.

The scattering of remains also may be done at a designated geographical spot on land or water in accordance with state/provincial or local laws. If scattering is done, it is highly advisable that a site also be chosen for permanent memorial that will provide a place or pilgrimage for those who want to remember and celebrate the life of the loved one.

It is important to remember that cremation does not limit the funeral in anyway, and, in fact, can give a greater number of options in the remembrance of those who are no longer with us.

Guidelines for Choosing a Cremation Provider

It is recommended that when you are arranging for a cremation, it be done prior to immediate need. This gives you the benefit of making arrangements without the pressure of time.

The first thing you need to do is to put your wishes in writing. In many states, you cannot authorize your own cremation and therefore the next of kin(s) must be in agreement if a cremation is to take place. You can check with a cremation provider as to whether your state allows self-authorization.

When choosing a cremation provider, here are some questions to ask:

1. Are they a member of the Cremation Association of North America? If not, do they adhere to a code of cremation ethics?

2. Do they perform their own cremations? If so, can you tour the cremation facility? If not, who does the cremations for them and where are they located?

3. Do they require the body be identified prior to cremation?

4. Can the cremation be witnessed by a family member or designated individual?

5. What is the average time between receiving the deceased and the completion of the cremation?

6. Do they have refrigeration facilities to hold the body prior to cremation?

7. What is the procedure to track the body through the cremation process and verify the identity of the cremated remains following cremation?

8. How are the cremated remains returned if an urn is not provided prior to cremation? What is the policy regarding holding of the cremated remains after the cremation is completed?

9. What is their policy in regards to disposing prosthetics, artificial hips, knees, etc.?

10. Will they give you references of other families who have used their services?

11. Have their crematory operators been certified by a recognized organization, such as CANA, in the proper use of the cremation equipment and care of the body and cremated human remains?