Eternal Rest Funeral Home
Helping Families Honor & Remeber Their Loved Ones
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Considerations
Challenges Planning a Funeral
Planning a funeral is not easy or fun. There are a lot of decisions that have to be made in a very short timeframe (Funeral Planning Challenges, n.d.). Specific challenges when planning a funeral include:
- Understanding the funeral costs
- Accommodating the wishes and religious beliefs of the deceased and family
- Decisions about the wake or luncheon after the funeral
- Dealing with family members that are unable to make decisions
- Coping with the loss of a loved one resulting in sadness
- Coordinating communication and travel for long-distance family
- Identifying a date and time for the funeral service
- Depending upon a person's religious belief their end-of-life decisions may conflict surviving family members or friends.
Pre-Planning
If you are pre-planning your funeral this is a great way to ensure your end-of-life decisions are upheld as well as elevating the stress on loved ones.
Items to consider:
- Decide on the type of service such a full funeral, graveside or in your home.
- Decide what type of events you would like such as viewings, visitations or just a memorial service.
- Communicate your religious and cultural beliefs to the funeral director
- Determine if you want to have a gathering (wake or luncheon) at the funeral home or elsewhere.
Another benefit of pre-planning your funeral is the ability to pay in full or via a payment schedule. For more information on planning your own funeral see the website resources at the bottom of this newsletter.
Cultural Considerations
Understanding the deceased persons end-of-life wishes is the best way to honor them after they are gone. Specifically, it is important to know if the deceased person had a specific religious or cultural belief that would determine the type of funeral services.
People of Jewish faith often forgo embalming and subsequently any "Viewing" or "Visitation" service. This ritual can present challenges for long-distance family or friends that cannot travel on short notice or do not understand the Jewish beliefs. Also, it is important to communicate to others the role of Shiva as the period where loved ones come to pay respect to the family.
Other religions such as Hinduism believe in cremation over burial. In this circumstance It is important to understand that a funeral service is not required and that the deceased will likely remain in the home until the date of cremation (Hindu Funeral Service Rituals, 2016).
Christian or Catholic religions often involve a church service after a formal viewing or visitation period. Coordination must occur between the funeral home and church to handle the transportation of the body between the funeral home, church and cemetery. In some circumstances the visitation and funeral service may be delayed to accommodate long-distance travelers (Leming, 2016, p. 384).
Understanding Funeral Costs
Funerals can be expensive. However, at Eternal Rest Funeral Home we have a variety of packages that makes a funeral affordable for everyone. The first part of understanding funeral costs is knowing what services provided by the funeral home that are not included in a base cost. This is important to understand because costs can quickly add up making it more expensive than expected. Also, depending upon your specific beliefs, certain services can be omitted.
Summary of costs
- Embalming: The process to preserve human remains from decomposing. This service is required if the family would like to have a viewing or visitation services. If your religious beliefs prevent embalming, such as Judaism, this service can be omitted. Eliminating this service could save you hundreds of dollars.
- Casket: There are a variety of models of caskets. It is important to pick the right casket for your budget. Most caskets start at $2,000 but could be as expensive as $10,000. Casket rental is an option for individuals considering cremation (Funeral Costs and Pricing Checklist).
- Cremation: With cremation you can decide to not have a funeral service which will dramatically reduce the cost. It is required that the deceased be placed in a solid wood box as part of the cremation process. The remains will be returned to the family. Urns can be purchased at a variety of different costs. It is important to pick out an urn that is the right size.
- Funeral Service: The funeral service often entails designated times where visitors can come an pay respect for the deceased and the deceased family. Costs associated with the funeral service depend on the number of visitation days as well as the memorial service (Funeral Costs and Pricing Checklist).
- Transportation: Full service funerals offer transportation of the body from a church to the funeral home and onto the grave site.
- Grave Marker: Like caskets, grave makers range in cost starting as low as $500 up to $12,000 (Funeral Expenses).
- Wake or luncheon: Often families have a wake or luncheon at a venue outside of the funeral home. We do have a variety of partnerships with local restaurants that offer private rooms and meal packages depending upon your dietary requirements.
References
Funeral Costs and Pricing Checklist. (n.d.). Retrieved from Federal Trade Commission: https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0301-funeral-costs-and-pricing-checklist
Funeral Expenses. (n.d.). Retrieved from Funeral Resources: https://funeralresources.com/plan-a-funeral/funeral-costs/
Funeral Planning Challenges. (n.d.). Retrieved from Funeral Resources: https://funeralresources.com/plan-a-funeral/funeral-planning-challenges/
Hindu Funeral Traditions. (2016). Retrieved from Everplans: https://www.everplans.com/articles/hindu-funeral-traditions
Leming, M. (2016). Understanding Dying, Death, and Bereavement, 8th Edition. Retrieved from VitalSource Bookshelf Online: https://reader.yuzu.com/#/books/9781305537613/
Contact Information
October 14, 2016
Baker College
PSY 211