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It is the customary way to recognize death and its finality. Funerals are recognized rituals for the living to show respect for the dead and to help survivors begin the grief process.
Funeral directors are caregivers and administrators. They make the arrangements for transportation of the body, complete all necessary paperwork, and implement the choices made by the family regarding the funeral and final disposition of the body. Funeral directors are listeners, advisors and supporters. They have experience assisting the bereaved in coping with death.
Viewing is part of many cultural and ethnic traditions. Many grief specialists believe that viewing aids the grief process by helping the bereaved recognize the reality of death. Viewing is encouraged for children, as long as the process is explained and the activity voluntary.
Embalming sanitizes and preserves the body, retards the decomposition process, and enhances the appearance of a body disfigured by traumatic death or illness. Embalming makes it possible to lengthen the time between death and the final disposition, thus allowing family members time to arrange and participate in the type of service most comforting to them.
Except in certain special cases, embalming is not required by law. Our company policy requires embalming for funeral services with viewing due to sanitary and health considerations.
Yes, a person who dies from a contagious related illness is entitled to the same service options afforded to anyone else. If public viewing is consistent with local or personal customs, that option is encouraged. The touching the deceased's face or hands is perfectly safe.
In 2001 the National average charge for an adult, full-service funeral, was $5,180.00. The full-service funeral includes professional service charges, embalming, other preparations, use of viewing facilities, use of facilities for ceremony, transfer of remains to the funeral home, hearse, service vehicle, acknowledgement cards, and casket. The casket included in this price was the average casket selected in the survey, which may or may not be the most common casket chosen. The average vault under this survey was $950.00. This brings the National average for casket, vault and funeral home services to $6,130.00.
The above prices do not include cemetery charges, such as grave space, opening/closing grave, crypts/mausoleum, monument or marker. (Source: National Funeral Directors Association 2001 General Price List Survey)
When compared to other major life cycle events, like births and weddings, funerals are not expensive. A wedding cost at least three times as much; but because it is a happy event, wedding costs are rarely criticized.
A funeral home is a 24-hour, labor-intensive business, with extensive facilities (chapel, viewing rooms, offices, automotive equipment, etc.); these expenses must be factored into the cost of a funeral. Moreover, the cost of a funeral includes not only merchandise, like caskets, but the professional services of a funeral director in making arrangements; filing appropriate forms; dealing with doctors, ministers, newspapers and others; and seeing to all the necessary details.
We are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year to take your call and offer the necessary assistance.
Yes, we can assist you with out-of-state arrangements, either to transfer the remains to another state or from another state.
In most areas of the country, state and local laws do not require that you buy a container to surround the casket in the grave. However, many cemeteries ask that you have such a container to support the earth above the grave.
Yes, quite often the family can arrange as much formality or as little as they feel they want. They are able to have a viewing and/or visitation as well as a funeral service with the body present prior to the cremation. The family also has the option of a memorial service to follow the cremation.
No, cremation is an alternative to earth burial or entombment for the body's final disposition and often follows a traditional funeral service.
No. Mississippi does not require a casket for direct cremation. If a direct cremation is chosen, you can use an alternative container. Alternative containers encase the body and can be made of materials like fiberboard or composition materials (with or without an outside covering).
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