Cremation Offers Many Options

Families that select cremation have many options available to them for gatherings and memorialization. It is important to remember that commemorating the life of a loved one is an emotional and personal experience. When making cremation arrangements, we will guide the family through all the options available to them from the gathering, memorialization and final disposition. We specialize in cremation; we can personally attend to all the details for you.

The most important thing is to create a farewell event that is meaningful and satisfying to you and others who will participate. Establishing a permanent memorialization that best suits your needs and your loved one’s wishes can be most meaningful to all.

What is Cremation?

During the cremation process intense heat reduces human remains to their original elements. Our trained staff will bring the deceased to the crematory in a casket or cremation container. Following cremation we will receive the cremated remains and normally place them into an urn that has been selected by the family. There are several options a family has in the final disposition of the remains at this point as well as different service and memorialization choices.

Services and Memorialization:

You have many memorialization options to consider for your loved one, before and/or after the cremation takes place. It is most important to create an event that not only allows family and friends to say good by, but also is meaningful and satisfying to all.

Many people see value in selecting a service with visitation and funeral services followed by the cremation. Or you can select a cremation followed by a memorial service. This service is a gathering that differs from a funeral only in that the body is not present. The cremated remains are usually present in an urn. Cremation can be selected without any visiting hours, viewing or ceremony this simply involves meeting with us to arrange the details.

No matter what you decide, each individual is unique, and so, their funeral services should be unique as well. We believe that no two services should be the same. That is why we take the time to get to know all we can about the deceased and the family to help create a "Life Tribute" to the memory of your loved one.

Services and memorialization can take many forms. All of them hold emotional value for the family and provide an opportunity for remembering the deceased. The need to honor and remember a loved one holds true for all individuals including those who choose cremation. Services can be simple or elaborate, casual or formal, contemporary or traditional. They can be held in the funeral home or a church or temple, private home or some other place that has special meaning to the family.

When planning a service try to capture the character and spirit of the deceased by using personal items and momento's that will make the event more meaningful and beneficial to all who attend.

Displaying personal items that reflect the individuals life…golf clubs, knitting, gardening tools, use of special music, poetry, photographs and videos all make the services more personal. Our staff is ready to assist in customizing a gathering or ceremony to meet your individual needs.

Final Memorialization:

With cremation you have options on the final disposition of the cremated remains including aboveground entombment in a niche at one of our local cemeteries. The most common in our area is burial in a family plot, separately, next to, or above and existing burial. Monuments or markers may be engraved marking the place of burial, for all to visit for generations to come. Providing a place for memorialization at home is a way to hold the memory of a loved one close. Scattering is a symbolic release of a person back to the world and can be a complete or partial scattering on land or water.

Memorial Products

Today cremation urns have been design to meet the needs of unique and personal ceremonies and memorialization. The choices consist of Biodegradable Urns for scattering, Garden Urns such a sundials and wind chimes for anyone who loved the garden an appreciated nature. Cast Acrylic Statuary Art Urns, designed to be an artistic form that is uplifting and a comforting tribute. Cast Bronze Statuary cast from original art works using the "lost wax" method. Memento Chests provide the perfect place to store photos heirlooms and other cherished items. Hardwood Urns have the natural warmth and beauty of fine woods. Marble Urns hand crafted from natural marble with distinctive graining patterns. Sheet Bronze Urns can be personalized with engravings and appliques reflecting the unique personality of the individual. Small Keepsake Urns and Jewelry to hold a personal remembrance.

We are here to help you through the process of making these choices. During the arrangement process you will make some important decisions that will reflect the tribute of a life lived. Once again, make choices that are meaningful and satisfying for you and your family. Call or e-mail us with your question we will be honored to assist you.

DEFINITIONS

The following information is furnished to enable you to more fully understand some of the terminology and procedures involved in the cremation process:

CREMATION – the irreversible process of reducing human remains to bone fragments through extreme heat and evaporation.

CREMATED REMAINS – The bone fragments remaining after the cremation process. (Technically, these fragments are not "ashes")

CREMATORY/CREMATORIUM – the facility which houses the cremation chamber.

CREMATION CHAMBER – the mechanical device used to perform the actual cremation process.

CREMATION CONTAINER – the container required to transport the human remains to the crematory. It could be the casket used at the funeral or a special rigid, leak proof, combustible box designed for cremation. The cremation container will be destroyed during the cremation process.

FINAL DISPOSITION – the final resting-place for the cremated remains.

HUMAN REMAINS – the body of the deceased.

INURNMENT – (1) placing the cremated remains in an urn or other container in preparation for final disposition; (2) placing the urn/container in its final resting-place.

PULVERIZATION PROCESS – the reduction of the cremated remains to an unidentifiable consistency to facilitate inurnment and/or to make the cremated remains acceptable for scattering. Depending on the pulverization device used, very small bone fragments may or may not remain after processing.

THE CREMATION PROCESS

Depending on local laws, there may be a waiting period of up to 48 hours from the time of death before the human remains may be cremated.

Before cremation, mechanical devices such as pacemakers must be removed because they may explode during the cremation process, causing extensive damage both to the integrity of the human remains and to the cremation chamber.

To begin the cremation process, the human remains and the cremation container are placed in the cremation chamber. Open flames raise the temperature to 1600-2000 degrees Fahrenheit for a period of approximately two to three hours. The time varies with each human remains.

When the cremation is performed in a chamber, which utilizes a secondary afterburner chamber, the partially cremated remains are moved into this secondary chamber for completion of the cremation process. In cremation chambers without a secondary chamber, the partially cremated remains may be repositioned to facilitate completion of the cremation process.

To reposition the human remains or to remove the cremated remains from the cremation chamber, a broad hoe-like instrument is used. Every effort is made by the operator to completely remove every particle from the chamber so they do not become commingled with particles of another cremation.

Occasionally, excess body fluids escape from the cremation chambers during processing, fluids which otherwise would have evaporated during the cremation process. These body fluids would not have become part of the cremated remains had they remained in the cremation chamber.

After the cremation process is complete, the cremated remains are removed from the cremation chamber and placed in a tray for cooling. They are then processed to their final reduced consistency. The processed cremated remains are placed into an urn or some other type of container, according to the wishes of the family. Most cremated remains weigh between 4 to 8 pounds, depending on the bone structure of the human remains.

Metal objects, such as jewelry and dental gold, may break down into small pieces during the cremation process. These small pieces, along with larger pieces of metal (e.g., hinges, screws and prostheses), may be removed from the cremated remains using a magnet or some other means, then disposed of according to local laws and company policy.

The family chooses the final disposition of the cremated remains. Pending this decision, your funeral professional will hold the cremated remains for a very limited, specified time. The family may select inurnment in a permanent location such as a mausoleum/columbarium niche, cemetery plot (many cemeteries allow urns to be buried in the same plot as a previously-interred casket or other urn), or other special location of the family’s choosing. Alternatively, the remains may be scattered in a cemetery scattering garden, at sea, or in some other location, so long as it is in accordance with local laws. However, the decision to scatter should be chosen carefully in that it is irreversible.

Any further question regarding the cremation process should be addressed to the funeral professional who assisted you in making these arrangements.