Page 12 - O'Neill Hayes Funeral Guide

transport the body, and in the event pre- planning was not done, select a casket/ urn and arrange the funeral/memorial service. The funeral director will also help you notify the employer and insurance company of the deceased to assist with those arrangements. Funeral directors are here to help and advise you and will work very hard to relieve the stress and logistics involved in funeral planning.
Meeting a funeral director
You should meet with a funeral director within 24 hours of a death to begin to make final arrangements for your loved one. Deciding on these final arrangements may seem like a very daunting task, especially when you are in a heightened emotional state, but funeral home staff have years of experience dealing with these issues, and strive to ensure everything goes as smoothly as possible.
Making arrangements
First the funeral director will gather information required for the death certificate. This includes:
• Full Name and Address
• Social Security Number
• Marital Status
• Race/Ethnicity
• Date and City of Birth
• Highest Level of Education
• Father’s Name, Mother’s Name
(including maiden name)
• Name of Spouse (if married or
widowed)
• Occupation and Employer
If no pre-planning has been done, necessary arrangements need to be made for the funeral service. These include:
• Scheduling the location, date and time of the visitation and funeral service
• Selecting burial or cremation
• Choosing funeral products
• Arranging a cemetery plot
• Preparing an obituary notice • Scheduling transportation
arrangements
A funeral director will guide you through all these steps, using your wants, needs and desires as a foundation to create a memorable funeral for your loved one. From here the funeral services can be personalized. Did your loved one have a favorite sports team? What was their favorite type of music? What activity was your loved one known best for? Recalling fond memories assists with the grieving process and will help honor the life of your loved one.
Burial Services
Traditionally, a burial service involves a visitation, followed by a funeral service in a church, or other place of worship. The casket is typically present at both these events, and it is your decision on whether to have the casket open or not. You have the option of having the remains interred (earth burial), or it may be entombed in a crypt inside a mausoleum (above ground burial). Family or religious traditions are often a factor for choosing burial. Decisions need to be made on whether the body needs to be embalmed, what kind of casket to use, what cemetery to use and what to put on the gravestone.
Cemetery types
Monumental cemetery: A monumental cemetery is the traditional style of cemetery where headstones or other monuments made of marble or granite rise vertically above the ground. There are countless different types of designs for headstones, ranging from very simple to large and complex.
Lawn cemetery: A lawn cemetery is where each grave is marked with a small commemorative plaque that is placed horizontally at the head of the
Page 12 - O’Neill-Hayes Funeral Home