General Information : The Value of a Funeral

We believe that funeral services have an important and valuable place in today's society. Although we must respect the fact that many families choose alternative arrangements, experience has proven that one inevitable result of death is the feeling of grief experienced by the survivors. This grief may evoke other emotions including anger, depression, fear, guilt, and sorrow. A funeral gives the family members a time and place to express and work out these feelings.

Funerals stimulate mourners to talk about the deceased, one of the first steps toward accepting the death. The funeral brings together a community of family and friends who, by supporting each other, can help themselves through a difficult time. Just as we have rituals for other passages of life, such as graduations and weddings, we need a ritual for death - one of the most significant of all passages. Funerals don't just recognize that a life has ended; they recognize that a life was lived. The funeral ritual also helps the survivors to heal emotionally.

When someone we love dies, we experience grief, which though it hurts, is not something to avoid. Grief is part of the healing process that allows us to separate ourselves from the deceased person and go on with our lives. To resolve their grief, mourners need to accept the reality of death not only on an intellectual level, but on an emotional level as well. It is for this reason that the traditional funeral is usually preceded by an open-casket visitation period. This may seem unnecessary; but many grief experts say that nothing helps one accept the reality of death as much as seeing the deceased person. For these reasons, it is important that families choose the kind of funeral and disposition most meaningful to them and most appropriate for the deceased.