Monthly Archives: May 2020

cremation services in Monroeville, PA

Cremation Service Basics

If you’re deciding if cremation services in Monroeville, PA are right for you, the first step is to learn more about cremation. Read on to learn more.

Cremation has been around for thousands of years but began making a comeback in the United States recently. The modern cremation process can be broken down to three main parts: body preparation, the actual cremation, and processing the ashes.

There are a lot of steps that need to take place before a body is cremated. First, a funeral director needs to obtain a cremation authorization document, usually signed by closest surviving family members. The funeral director then goes through a series of checks to ensure proper body identification.

Next, the body is processed to remove any items that the family doesn’t want cremated with the body, or things that cannot be cremated with the body like jewelry and medical devices, especially pacemakers. Once prepared, the body is put inside a cremation casket and checked again for proper identification. A metal identification tag that won’t burn or melt is also placed inside the cremation casket to ensure the remains end up with the right family after cremation.

Cremation chambers are usually heated with fire and built from fire resistant bricks and special masonry compound designed to stand up to extremely high temperatures. The cremation casket holding the body is placed directly into the cremation chamber. At the height of the process, the chamber reaches over 1800 degrees Fahrenheit. It usually takes 2 hours for a body to be reduced to bone fragments and ash, but the time can vary depending on factors such as the size of the body, type of cremation casket, or even the percentage of body fat to lean muscle.

After the incineration, the remains are left to cool inside the chamber for about 30 minutes. They are then processed and checked again for any remaining medical debris and identification. The cooled bone fragments go through a processor that grinds them down into fine ash. This final ash is what is returned to the family for funeral services or interment.

There are many different ways families deal with their loved one’s cremated remains after a cremation. Some of these include casting, or tossing the cremated remains into the wind; raking, a process in which the ashes are poured over loose earth and raked into the soil; trenching, or burying the ashes in a shallow grave; aerial scattering, an expensive option, is when a professional pilot takes the ashes into the air and scatters them from the sky; water scattering, or simply scattering the ashes into a body of water, or ringing, a ceremony in which a loved one places the ashes in ring around a tree or home.

If you want to learn more about cremation itself or about Monroeville, PA cremation services, contact Patrick T. Lanigan Funeral Home and Crematory, Inc. We offer a wide range of cremation services designed to help you in your time of loss. Call today to learn more.

funeral homes in Monroeville, PA

Funeral Home Services

Death is never easy. Greif makes it hard to get through everyday life, much less plan a funeral service. Luckily, funeral homes in Monroeville, PA can help you ease the burden of planning a funeral. Funeral homes are designed to help bereaved plan a funeral or memorial to honor their lost loved one.

The right funeral home can help you through all the steps and arrangements to planning and executing a funeral. The right funeral home can even help you after the funeral is over by giving you access to grief resources and counseling. A funeral home’s main purpose is helping you make arrangements for the deceased. This includes more menial tasks like processing the death certificate as well as more involved services like planning the funeral.

You can rely on the right funeral home to provide the clear-headed logic you need to stay organized and deal with the legal steps surrounding a death like gathering information for the death certificate like full name and address, date and city of birth, marital status, and occupation; recording and collecting documents like account statements, loans and leases, beneficiary information, tax returns, last will, and bill copies to file the death certificate and other legal paperwork; filing the paperwork and certificates; and making contact with legal counsel if needed.

A funeral home’s main job, however, is to help you with the funeral arrangements. The funeral director will sit down with you and discuss the deceased’s final wishes and how best to memorialize his or her life. You may discuss ways to personalize the funeral, from the deceased’s favorite sports team, music or hobbies to his or her special memories or accomplishments. A funeral home can help you arrange funeral details such as:

  • Sending out Obituary and Death notices
  • Purchasing a casket, vault, urn or headstone
  • Choosing and contacting a religious official for the service
  • Finding a cemetery or crematory
  • Choosing and buying books, flowers, registries or cards

A good funeral home can even help you better personalize the funeral arrangements by helping you plan and execute things like dove or butterfly releases, monument sales, memorial shirts, customized photos or video presentations, limousine services, and even burials at sea.

Another major way a funeral home can help you is by offering grief support for before, during and after the funeral. Funeral homes often have accesses to grief resources such as contact information for support groups and councilors, articles and information on grief and the best ways to deal with it, and more specific help for special grief situations like losing a child or a traumatic loss.

Patrick T. Lanigan Funeral Home and Crematory, Inc. is a Monroeville, PA funeral home that can help you with all of this and more. Please reach out to us for more information about our funeral home services and how we can support you in your time of loss. We are honored to serve you and our community as best we can through our expert funeral services.

cremation services in Penn Township, PA

Frequently Asked Cremation Services Questions

Use this list of frequently asked cremation questions to learn more about cremation services in Penn Township, PA to better decide if its right for you and your loved ones.

  1. What is Cremation? Cremation is a way of reducing a body to bone fragments and ash to make final disposition or interring easier or preferable. The body is heated in a chamber from 1,500 to 2,000 degrees F until it breaks down. It usually takes about two to three hours for a full cremation for an average sized adult.
  2. Can We Have A Funeral Before the Cremation? Embalming is required for a funeral or public visitation before cremation. But family members may view the deceased without prior embalming before the cremation process begins.
  3. What Happens After Cremation? After the body is reduced to bone fragments via heat, the remains are swept into a container and cooled. Once cooled, they are inspected for items that weren’t reduced by the heat like medical devices, metal from clothing, etc. The remaining bone fragments are then put through a machine to be compressed to a consistent size of ash, placed in the chosen receptacle and given to the family.
  4. Do I Have to Pay for an Urn? Cremated remains can be returned to you in a basic container that’s included in the cremation charge. You may purchase an urn or other receptacle if you so choose.
  5. Can the Family Watch the Cremation? Cremation viewing may be available to family members if arranged in advance. Check with your cremation service for more information.
  6. Are All the Remains Returned to My Family? All of the remains are returned except small particles that may have been drawn into the cremation or processing machines.
  7. How Do I Know I’ll Get the Right Remains? Every cremation business has a series of checks and policies to ensure you get your loved one’s remains. These include positive identification at all stages of cremation, metal identification tags, and certified technicians.
  8. How Can I expect My Loved One’s Cremated Remains to Look? Cremated remains look like ash, but with a light grey to white color. You can expect anywhere from 4 to 8 pounds of ash depending on how big your loved one was.
  9. What Do I Do with the Remains? There are many options for your loved one’s cremated remains. You can bury them in a cemetery, inter them in a columbarium, or scatter them on private property just to name a few. You can get as creative as you like.
  10. Do I Need A Cremation Casket? You do not need to purchase a traditional casket for cremation. You do need a rigid container for the body to be cremated in.

If you have any more cremation questions, or want to learn more about Penn Township, PA cremation services, just reach out to Patrick T. Lanigan Funeral Home and Crematory, Inc. We are honored to help you through your time of loss in any way we can.

funeral homes in Penn Township, PA

Grief Support at Funeral Homes

Knowing how to deal with loss and grief can be almost as hard as the grief itself, but it doesn’t have to be. Many funeral homes in Penn Township, PA and beyond offer resources and grief support to help you through your time of loss. The following is a list of online resources for coping with bereavement and grief to give you additional support if you need it. This list includes convenient online support like professional counselors, community sites, and bloggers. Some of these resources can be found at funeral homes while others are more private.

  • The Grief Recovery Method: The Grief Recovery Method is a website developed by the Grief Recovery Institute. It has lots of valuable grief information and been a leading resource for 30 years.
  • Association of Death Education and Counseling: ADEC has over 2,000 members, including physical and mental health professionals, educators, funeral directors, and clergymen. They host grief conferences, workshop and seminars frequently.
  • Open to Hope: Open to Hope is a non-profit that helps people find hope again after a loss. They offer community support, articles, books, and more to help people work through their loss and start to love meaningful and happy lives while working through their grief.
  • Light A Candle: This website has a page where people can “light” a digital candle in honor of their lost loved one. You can attach a name, date or photo to the candle, too.
  • Resources for Survivors of Suicide: This group emphasizes that you are not alone when you lose a loved one through suicide. They offer different tools, interactive online supports and more.
  • National Child Traumatic Stress Network: The NCTSN helps support kids who have gone through trauma from death of a loved one to injuries. They strive to reinforce stability and healing.
  • National Center for Victims of Crime: This organization voices and supports abuse and crime survivors. They have a broad focus but offer help to a wide variety of victims and surviving family.
  • The Sweeney Alliance: Founded by Peggy Sweeney, this non-profit offers a range of programs for adults and children who’ve suffered a loss. Check out their regular newsletters and online resources.
  • Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors Inc: TAPS specifically serves families who’ve lost a member of the military through peer-based support.

Everyone will experience grief and one point or another, but that doesn’t make it any easier. It’s important to remember that getting extra help and support for grief is not shameful. In fact, seeking the help you need makes you brave and strong. Use any of the above resources to help you through your loss.

If you want more information on grief support, or would like to learn more about Penn Township, PA funeral homes, Patrick T. Lanigan Funeral Home and Crematory, Inc. can help. We offer a range of funeral and cremation services would be happy to assist you in any way we can. Please give us a call today for more information about what we can do for you in your time of loss.