Funeral Service Options
Full Funeral Service
The ceremony can be held in our comfortable up-to-date facility with the availability of our fully catered reception room. Our facility has a built in audio / video projection system and we can create a video tribute which adds a personal touch to each individual ceremony.
The ceremony can be held in your church or other location, such as a community centre. The location can be up to the family, keeping in mind the number of people expected to attend. This ceremony would conclude with a burial or cremation.
The ceremony can be conducted by a minister or pastor as selected by the family or recommended by the funeral director. In many cases the ceremony can be conducted by a family friend or a neutral master of ceremonies with family and friends assisting with such tasks as a eulogy, reading of a scripture verse, a poem, or the singing of a song. Churches and the funeral home can also provide musicians if desired.
The casket can be opened or closed before, during, or after the ceremony. Some churches and clergy prefer to have the casket closed during the ceremony. Very often a time is set up prior to the ceremony for either family or friends to view and have a private time to say good-bye. A viewing or visitation is a way to acknowledge that the death has occurred and can create closure of a life and a starting point of walking through the steps of grief. (Viewing is a very personal decision and should be left up to the individual.)
Funeral services can be held for anyone, no matter what the person’s beliefs or ideas may be. The deceased did not have to have been attending a church to have a funeral service.
Memorial Service/Celebration of Life
The ceremony can be held in our comfortable up-to-date facility with the availability of our fully catered reception room. The burial or cremation has taken place at a separate time. A viewing or visitation can take place if desired before the cremation or burial. The ceremony can be held in your church or other location, such as a community centre. The location can be up to the family, keeping in mind the number of people expected to attend. This ceremony can conclude with a burial of the urn.
The body would not be at the ceremony; however the urn could be present. We encourage a photo or collage of photos be set up at the ceremony. This is also an opportunity to have a video tribute, which we produce and display on our built in audio / video projection system. This can be a lasting memory to all who attend and a DVD is presented to the family as a keepsake.
Each ceremony can have a display of the hobbies and interests of the deceased with such items as handiwork, art, a rocking chair, and even their favorite motorcycle.
Personalization is very important and has been proven to be effective in the grieving process. Families are encouraged to personalize in a way that would reflect their loved one’s life and joyous memories. These celebrations can be held for anyone, no matter what the person’s beliefs or ideas may be. The deceased did not have to have been attending a church to have a memorial service or celebration of life.
The ceremony can be conducted by a minister or pastor as selected by the family or recommended by the funeral director. In many cases the ceremony can be conducted by a family friend or a neutral master of ceremonies with family and friends assisting with such tasks as a eulogy, reading of a scripture verse, a poem, or the singing of a song. Churches and the funeral home can also provide musicians if desired. The family is also encouraged to select some favorite pieces of music to be played before, during, and after the ceremony. Our funeral home also has a large supply of recorded music.
Graveside Ceremony
Family and friends would gather at the cemetery for a ceremony that can be performed by a minister, family member, friend, or neutral master of ceremonies. The burial can be for a casket or an urn; this can also serve as the conclusion of a funeral service or memorial service / celebration of life. (This ceremony is generally brief because of uncertainty of the weather.)
Options Available
One of the biggest misconceptions about cremation is that there cannot be a funeral because of the cremation. Even with cremation many families will chose the comfort of having a funeral with the cremation taking place afterwards.
If the cremation takes place before the ceremony, the urn can be present along with meaningful or personal effects such as photos or memorabilia which could be displayed at the ceremony.
Following the ceremony the urn could be placed in a permanent spot such as a cemetery. Many cemeteries have different options. (I.e. Cremation section, rose gardens, or most full burial graves allow up to 4 urns to be buried in the existing plot.) Very often the family or friends like to be present when the urn is buried; this can act as a final closure to the life that was lived. Most cemeteries will allow a small memorial/marker to be placed on the grave.
The decision to scatter should be chosen carefully; it is an irreversible act. Very often there is no permanent record as to where the scattering has occurred and future generations have no site to visit. If the scattering takes place on private property, some day that property will be sold and family will not have access to that location. The emotional value of establishing a permanent site is worthy of consideration.
Basic Cremation Service
About 80% of the deaths that occur in British Columbia end with cremation. Across Canada earth burial is still the chosen means of disposition by the majority of families. Even in B.C. with the higher number of people choosing cremation, many are unaware of the options they have, such as types of ceremonies /services that are available. E.g. What types of containers are required? What type of memorials / final resting places are available and where can it occur?
It is often found that many people decide on cremation with very little information that they may have heard from friends or seen on television.
Cremation is only one process in a series of events that will take place. The actual cremation process takes 2-3 hours for the body to be transformed by intense heat. The body is reduced to small skeletal fragments, not ashes, as some people think. Following this process the fragments are cooled and then processed to their final reduced consistency. The cremated remains (about 2kilograms / 5 pounds and 3 liters / ¾ of a gallon) are then placed in a container called an urn. This urn can vary from a cardboard box to many different container materials such as wood, metal, marble, ceramic or plastic.
Immediate Disposition
There is no type of ceremony or gathering. The deceased is transferred from the place of death to the funeral home; the documentation is secured and registered. The body is placed in a cremation container/casket, as selected by the family, and cremated no sooner than 48 hours after death. (Required by law in the Province of B.C.)
Shipping Services
When a person dies outside of the province, we are able to assist in bringing the deceased back home in order to have the ceremony and/or interment. We work with the cooperation of a funeral director in the area where the death occurs. Any death that occurs within the province we would transport from the place of death, back to our area.