Page 15 - O'Shea Funeral Guide
P. 15

headstones are generally replaced                        human desire for memorialization.
          with a tree or a bush or a placement
          of a natural rock.                                       What happens when a cemetery runs
                                                                   out of land?
                                                                   When a cemetery runs out of land,
          Burial FAQs                                              it will continue to operate and serve
                                                                   the community. Most cemeteries have
          What is opening and closing and why                      crematoriums, and some historic
          is it so expensive?                                      cemeteries even offer guided tours.
          Opening and closing fees can include
          up to and beyond 50 separate services                    In a hundred years will this cemetery
          provided by the cemetery. Typically,                     still be there?
          the opening and closing fee includes                     We think of cemetery lands as being
          administration and permanent record                      in perpetuity. There are cemeteries
          keeping       (determining       ownership,              throughout the world that have been
          obtaining       permission       and      the            in existence for hundreds of years.
          completion of other documentation
          which may be required, entering the                      How soon after or how long after a
          interment particulars in the interment                   death must an individual be buried?
          register, maintaining all legal files);                  There is no law that states a specific
          opening and closing the grave                            time frame  for  burial.  Considerations
          (locating the grave and laying out                       that will affect timeline include
          the boundaries, excavating and filling                   the  need  to  secure  all  permits  and
          the interment space); installation                       authorizations, notification of family
          and removal of the lowering device;                      and  friends,  preparation of cemetery
          placement and removal of artificial                      site and religious considerations.
          grass dressing and coco-matting at                       Public      health     laws     may      have
          the grave site, leveling, tamping, re-                   limitations on the maximum length
          grading and sodding the grave site                       of time allowed to pass prior to final
          and leveling and re-sodding the grave                    disposition. Contact your local funeral
          if the earth settles.                                    provider for more details.


          Why is having a place to visit so
                                                                   Does  a  body  have  to  be  embalmed
          important?                                               before it is buried?
          To remember and to be remembered                         No. Embalming is a choice which
          are natural human needs. A permanent                     depends on factors like if there is to
          memorial in a cemetery provides                          be an open casket viewing of the body
          a    focal    point    for    remembrance                or if there is to be an extended time
          and memorializing the deceased.                          between death and interment. Public
          Throughout            human          history,            health laws may require embalming if
          memorialization of the dead has                          the body is going to transported by
          been a key component of almost                           air or rail.
          every     culture.     Psychologists      say
          that remembrance practices, from                         What options are available besides
          the funeral or memorial service to                       ground burial?
          permanent memorialization,              serve            Besides       ground        burial,     some
          an important emotional function for                      cemeteries offer interment in lawn
          survivors by helping them bring closure                  crypts or entombment in mausoleums.
          and allowing the healing process to                      In addition, most cemeteries provide
          begin. Providing a permanent resting                     choices for those who have selected
          place for the deceased is a dignified                    cremation.       These      often     include
          treatment for a loved one’s mortal                       placement of cremated remains in a
          remains, which fulfills the natural                      niche of a columbarium or interment



                                                                                       O’Shea Funeral Homes - Page 15
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