Cremation Services

Direct cremation is the simplest option: no public visitation or ceremony beforehand, with the cremation taking place once the required authorizations and permits are complete. The cremated remains are then returned to the family in the urn or container you select.

Families often choose direct cremation when relatives are scattered across the country, when they would rather hold a gathering later on their own terms, or simply because it is what their loved one asked for. Choosing it closes no doors — a memorial service can still be held weeks or months afterward.

There are two common ways to hold a service when cremation is chosen.

• A funeral service before the cremation. Visitation and a full funeral are held with your loved one present, in a casket you purchase or rent, followed by cremation.
• A memorial service after the cremation. The gathering is held with the urn present, along with photographs and a memorial table, on a date that gives family time to travel in.

Either can be held in our chapel, at your church, or at the graveside, with music, readings, clergy, and military honors as you wish. If your family would like to be present for the cremation itself, ask us and we will explain what that involves.

Cremation still allows for a permanent place to visit, and many families find that matters more than they expected.

• Burial of the urn in a family plot, in many cases alongside relatives already there
• Placement in a columbarium niche
• Keeping the urn at home
• Dividing a portion among family members in keepsake urns or cremation jewelry
• Scattering in a place that held meaning

We carry urns in a range of materials and prices, from simple to engraved, and can order a design that suits the person. Ask us about the rules that apply to scattering, or to the cemetery you have in mind, before you make firm plans.