Cremation Services

Every day, we hear stories about how people are struggling to find meaningful ways to honor a loved one who has been cremated. Somehow they think that cremation means there can be no remembrance service, or commemorative event – and that’s simply not true.  There are three basic cremation service choices:

Simple cremation
          This service includes:

  • Transfer of the deceased from the place of death to the funeral home
  • Arrangement conference with family to obtain information necessary to secure death certificates, cremation permit and assistance in preparing and submitting obituary to newspaper(s) if desired
  • The cremation of the deceased
  • Placing the cremated remains in a selected urn
  • Giving family the urn containing the cremated remains

Merchandise not included


Cremation with Celebration of Life Service
     This service includes:

  • Everything in the Simple Cremation Service above
  • Assistance in planning and coordinating a public or private Celebration of Life Service
  • Securing a minister or other person to lead the service
  • Preparation of a Life Tribute Video DVD to be shown during the service
  • Assistance in securing musicians or pre-recorded music
  •  Receiving and displaying floral tributes
  • Greeting and assisting guests
  • Service direction

Merchandise not included
Viewing not included, but available upon request


Traditional Funeral Service Followed by Cremation
      This service includes:

  • Everything in the Cremation with Celebration of Life service above
  • Embalming, care and preparation of the deceased for public viewing
  • Public viewing (Includes Recitation of the Rosary for Catholic families)
  • Use of the Norwood Cremation Casket (rental)

No other merchandise included


What is a Celebration of Life Service?
A cremation Celebration of Life service simply sets aside time to celebrate the personality and accomplishments of someone you loved. And, it gives comfort and support to those left behind. It can take place prior to the cremation, or afterwards. It can also be part of a scattering ceremony.



THE CREMATION PROCESS

People often ask us, “What happens during the process of cremation?” Without getting into too much detail, here are the basics

  • The container encasing the human remains is placed in the cremation chamber, where the temperature is raised to approximately 1400 to 1800 degrees Fahrenheit.
  • After about 2 hours, almost all of the organic matter is consumed by heat or evaporation. What remains, which are essentially bone fragments, are known as cremated remains.
  • After a cooling period, these are carefully removed from the cremation chamber. Any metal is removed with a magnet and later disposed of in an approved manner.
  • The cremated remains are then processed into fine particles and are placed in an urn purchased by the family.

The entire cremation process takes approximately three hours. From start to finish, a carefully controlled labeling system ensures correct identification. If you have questions about cremation, the cremation process, or would like to discuss the possibility of preplanning a cremation or Celebration of Life service, please call us at (303) 710-4221.