The traditional funeral service typically involves embalming which enables the option to hold a
public visitation. The visitation is usually held the evening or night before the actual service takes
place. This is a time for friends to visit with your family and express their condolences and
to help you through the process. This is a time honored tradition that’s especially important in
smaller communities such as ours. People like the opportunity to see the family and to pay their
final respects to the deceased. In most cases this would include an open casket for viewing the
body unless otherwise directed by the family to have a closed casket at their discretion. The
service would then be held the following day at the funeral home or church of your choosing.
Following the funeral service the family and congregation would drive in a funeral procession
to the cemetery in which interment would take place after a short graveside committal service.
Friends and family would then be dismissed to their own homes, the family’s home or
gathering place for refreshments or fellowship.

The graveside funeral service varies from family to family but in most cases would normally be
carried out in one of two ways listing below:

• The family would hold a public visitation the evening or night before the service at
  the funeral home, family home or church. The following day the funeral service would
  be held at the cemetery including options such as special songs being sung or played
  at the gravesite. This option is available to include pallbearers or we can place the casket
  over the grave before the family arrives at the cemetery.
   
• Another option would be no visitation (or a private family viewing) in the funeral home.
  The same day or the next day we would proceed to the cemetery just as described above
  for a graveside service. This option is available to include pallbearers or the casket would
  be placed over the grave before the family arrives.
  
  

Direct burial would be a choice that includes no visitation or service and the body would be
taken directly from the place of death, casketed and/or prepared and taken directly to the
cemetery for burial. The family can choose to hold a graveside or other service at a later
date should they choose.

The same day visitation and service options sometimes work well for a family who may have
family members travelling from various locations, or may have time restraints on the time they
can be off from work and other varying reasons. Instead of holding a visitation the night before
the service everything takes place on the same day. This can include a visitation at the funeral
home or church immediately followed by the funeral service also in the funeral home or church
or a graveside service. The service would be followed by the committal service at the cemetery.  

A memorial service is a gathering of friends and family and the service can be held at our location
or at the location of your choice. Usually a casket is not present but instead an urn, photos, custom
DVD’s created by our staff and other memorabilia are placed in lieu of the casket. This service is
a simplified version of a traditional/contemporary funeral service. The option is available to follow
in a procession to the burial site of the cremains if the family so chooses. We have other options
available in which you can learn about by clicking the tabs below.

Direct cremation would not include any visitation, viewing or service. The body is transported
from the place of death to our facility to be prepared for cremation. Once cremation has taken
place the cremains are given to the family and may be placed in an urn or container for
immediate or later burial at the family’s discretion.

Should you choose cremation we do have a few options available to you. Viewing the deceased
for a lot people provides the closure needed to completely accept and proceed in the grieving
process. To help with this we have the option of renting a casket from us to use for a public
visitation and/or service. You have the option to hold the visitation the night before or the
same day as the service. Instead of following in a procession to the cemetery, the casket would
be carried from the chapel, the body removed from the rental casket and would be immediately
prepared for cremation. We also have alternative caskets that are typically made of cardboard
and covered in felt or a wooden casket authorized for use in cremation. With either of
these two last options the body and casket would be cremated together. The cremated remains
would be given to the family to bury and/or scatter at a later date.