Burial (Traditional and Green Burial)

Burial Services

There are different services that you can choose for a loved one’s burial, depending upon your individual needs and preferences. 

Visitation

A visitation, also called a viewing, wake, or calling hours, allows family and friends to gather in a room with the departed loved one in an open or closed casket and say goodbye or offer their support and sympathy to the bereaved. The viewing service occurs before the formal service and is usually reserved for close friends and family members to express sympathy. This ritual is the most intimate and can provide a sense of comfort for those most afflicted. This is also available when choosing cremation.

Funeral Service

A funeral service — also referred to as a “traditional” or “full service” funeral — is the most common funeral type. This usually occurs within days of a death and takes place at a church or at Jenkins. Friends and family gather to view their loved one at either an open or closed-casket ceremony. Because a full service funeral is often religious in nature, a pastor or priest will share a few words and a blessing. 

Once the formal service concludes, attendees will move to the location of the burial to finalize the ceremony and pay last respects. 

On occasion, the family of the deceased holds a reception in their home, a restaurant, or catering facility, following the burial. This is certainly not required of a funeral and will depend on each family’s preferences and circumstances. 

Graveside Service 

A graveside service (also known as a “committal service”) is the part of the ceremony that follows the full or traditional service funeral explained above; however, some families choose to partake in only the graveside procedure, forgoing the church service. This can be an alternative option if the deceased or their family is not religious. With this option, the entire service takes place at the cemetery and the funeral director, as well as friends and family, can share their eulogies. A prayer is typically read and attendees will present flowers or other memorabilia at the deceased’s grave. 

Green Burial

Green Burial is a way of caring for the dead with minimal environmental impact that aids in the conservation of natural resources, reduction of carbon emissions, protection of worker health, and the restoration and/or preservation of habitat.

It means that the body is buried in a simple biodegradable container with no embalming, and concrete vaults are prohibited.

Immediate burial

Immediate burial is a burial that occurs shortly after death without formal viewing, visitation, or ceremony with the body present, and is usually in a simple container or casket. Embalming is not necessary or required.

Cemetery

We are an independent funeral home and work with all cemeteries in the area, Evergreen Cemetery, Westlake; Lakewood Park Cemetery, Rocky River; St. Joseph Cemetery, Avon; Holy Cross Cemetery, Cleveland; Sunset Memorial Park, North Olmsted; Resthaven Memory Gardens, North Ridgeville; Butternut Ridge Cemetery, North Olmsted; Chestnut Grove Cemetery, Olmsted Township; if you have questions on any of these or others please let us know. And when you decide to have a permanent memorial-headstone, we can to assist in finding a way to memorialize your loved one so you can continue healing.