Monthly Archives: December 2022

cremation service in Penn Township, PA

Remembering Without a Traditional Service

Sometimes people don’t want a big “goodbye” after they’re gone, and that’s OK. But without a service or memorial, it can be tough for their friends, family, and other loved ones to honor and celebrate their life. How can you honor a lost loved one if they don’t want a memorial after a cremation service in Penn Township, PA?

There are many ways to get closure after death beyond a traditional funeral or service. No matter how you may feel about a loved one who does not want a funeral, it is important to honor their last wishes. Thankfully, there are plenty of alternatives to traditional funerals and memorial services. Here are some ideas for what you can do to honor your lost loved one or the passing of a friend without a service:

  • Write an Obituary – Obituaries are traditions for a reason, as they provide the chance to remember the deceased, honor their life and accomplishments, and help the bereaved grieve.
  • Build a Slideshow – Slideshows about the deceased’s life are common at funerals and memorials, but you can still make one even if there won’t be a service. Feature lots of pictures, videos, and memories. You can even include your lost loved one’s favorite music.
  • Send Flowers – Sending flowers is a thoughtful, traditional way of remembering the deceased and giving their loved one’s support.
  • Send Food – This thoughtful gesture of support helps the bereaved grieve without having to worry about cooking or ordering food. Be sure to check with the family about dietary restrictions or needs before sending food. Aside from homemade food, you can also use meal delivery apps to send takeout or even send credits so they can order their own meals at their leisure.
  • Get Creative – There are many ways to remember and honor a lost loved one through the creative arts. If you like drawing or painting, draw or paint a portrait of your lost loved one or of an item or image that reminds you of them. If you like to write, write a poem, short story, or even a letter about the deceased.
  • Post a Tribute – Social media, from Facebook to Instagram, offers wonderful opportunities to honor the deceased without a service or memorial. Write a tribute post about the deceased and the impact they had on your life, or simply post some of your favorite photos of the deceased.
  • Create a Memory Book – Using pictures, notes, drawings, or clippings, build a memory book of the deceased. This book will help you remember the good time with your lost loved one and will serve as a reminder of their life for future generations.
  • Dedicate a Tree – Not only will dedicating a tree help replant and forest and provide homes to forest animals but it will also honor and remember the deceased for generations to come.

With a little thoughtful planning, you and your family can figure out what will work best. We are here to help if you want more ideas on mourning in unique ways or information on Penn Township, PA cremation services.

Penn Township, PA funeral homes

Funeral Home Trends

A new year will certainly bring new trends in Penn Township, PA funeral homes, cremation services, memorials, and more. How will the changes and challenges of the past year affect the funeral and cremation industry? Here is a list of funeral home trends for this year to inspire your planning and preplanning as well as provide interesting insights.

To begin, there will be a lot of virtual services and personalized services. Virtual funerals, wakes, and memorials became popular in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, we predict they will remain popular well into 2022 as virtual services offer many benefits from ease of scheduling to allowing out-of-town family members and loved ones to easily attend. Funerals have slowly been moving away from tradition and becoming more and more personalized to the deceased and their loved ones.

Unique, creative personalization of the funeral service has become the new norm. This means you’re free to choose the services, products, and traditions you want for the deceased’s funeral or memorial, whether that means hosting a celebration of life or putting them to rest in a cremation urn that will turn into a tree. What about memorial gardens or preplanning? A memorial garden is a community garden dedicated to the deceased. Oftentimes the dedication is made official through donations and made known through a plaque or a memorial bench. These gardens are becoming more and more popular as ways to remember the deceased and honor them for generations to come.

Preplanning or advance planning funeral arrangements is a great trend as preplanning offers many benefits including savings, reduced stress, more control over your own funeral, and the ability to plan a more personalized service. Direct cremation and at-home funerals will be popular, too. Direct cremation is when the body is cremated directly after death without any embalming, wake, or other services. Direct cremation is the most affordable body disposition method, which is perhaps why its gaining popularity.

Beyond savings, it also allows the family to hold a memorial, scattering, or any other kind of service whenever they want as opposed to right after the death. DIY is moving from home improvement to funerals and memorials. An at-home funeral is when the memorial or funeral service is held in the home rather than in an official facility. A home funeral cuts down many of the common funeral costs and can be much more eco-friendly, but there are still many benefits to hosting a funeral or memorial at a funeral home.

Unlike more traditional burials with embalming, heavily decorated caskets, and imported flowers, natural burials are all about keeping things simple. They use simple biodegradable urns, bamboo caskets, or cotton burial shrouds to minimize environmental impact and increase the speed of decomposition. As consumers, we’re becoming more aware of the effect we have on the environment. This has led to an uptick in sustainable or environmentally friendly funeral and cremation services like green burials, eco-friendly cremation caskets and runs, and a general increase in sensitivity surrounding sustainability and renewal after death.

We are here to help if you have more questions on industry trends or funeral homes in Penn Township, PA. Call or visit us today for more information.

cremation service in North Versailles, PA

Become a Tree After Cremation Services

Instead of a standard burial or scattering, become a tree when you die! Are you interested in becoming a tree after your death and cremation service in North Versailles, PA? Cremation tree kits are easy, eco-friendly, and beautiful ways to plant trees from a loved one’s remains while honoring and celebrating your lost loved one’s life for generations to come.

This internment option is when cremated remains are buried with tree seeds, and the remains nourish and sustain the tree as it grows. Cremation tree urns are biodegradable urns designed to hold cremains, fertilizer, and tree seeds. They also come with pH-neutralizing agents and fertilizers to help the cremains nourish the tree seed as it grows and flourishes into a free. When planted in the ground with cremains, cremation tree urns incorporate the cremains into the tree’s nourishment, turning your lost loved one’s remains into part of the tree, like a living memorial.

There are many different types of trees you can plant with a cremation tree urn, including Ponderosa Pine Tree, Quaking Aspen, Sugar Maple, Tulip Poplar, Blue Spruce, Deodara Cedar, Dogwood, Eastern Red Bud, Flowering Cherry, Ginkgo Biloba, Jacaranda, Japanese Maple, Mexican Fan Palm, Oak, and Palo Verde.

If you’re interested in planting a cremation tree with your lost loved ones cremated remains, keep in mind that each cremation tree kit will come with complete, specific instructions. However, here’s a basic rundown of the process. Before you plant, look up the best type of environment for the tree, including sun exposure, water needs, and soil type, as you want to ensure that you set the tree up for success. After all, you want your lost loved one’s tree to be big and beautiful for generations to come. Then, prepare the urn by removing the plastic wrap and locating the lower vessel for the cremains and the cap, which contains the nutrients for the tree. To prep the urn for planting, soak the seed packet as instructed, then place the wood pulp bag into the lower vessel along with no more than 1-1/4 cup of ashes, leaving enough room to fold it over and get the cap on.

To plant the urn, place the cap or lid over the lower vessel, dig a six- to the seven-inch-deepcremation service in North Versailles, PA hole, and place the run upright into the hole so the lower vessel touches the bottom. Replace the soil so there’s no more than one inch of dirt covering the urn. Next, simply follow the watering directions for the tree type to ensure it will grow big, strong, and beautiful. It’s important to note that cremated remains don’t “expire”, so you can use your loved one’s cremains to plant a tree at any time, even years after their passing. However, after placing the cremains into the urn, you should plant the tree as soon as possible to ensure the seeds germinate and grow properly.

Do you want more tips on cremation trees or North Versailles, PA cremation services? We are here to help by offering expert services and information. Call or visit us today for more information on what we can do for you.

funeral home services in North Versailles, PA

Buried at Sea

Have you ever been curious about burials at sea after funeral home services in North Versailles, PA? You might be surprised to learn that burial at sea isn’t just for sailors and pirates, but it does come with a lot of rules.

You can find the full rules and regulations for sea burials under the Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries Act (MPRSA). It is important to note that sea burials are some of the most environmentally friendly burials possible, as they don’t use embalming fluid, don’t require a crematory fire, and don’t use up space on land. While the laws around sea burials vary from country to country and sometimes state to state, there are a few that remain the same almost everywhere. For example, all sea burials must be performed at least three nautical miles from shore and must be reported to the EPA within 30 days of completion.

Want more information? Here are some facts about burial at sea:

  • Are there rules for cremation burial at sea? There are two main ways to bury cremated remains at sea: in a biodegradable urn or by scattering the cremains. Biodegradable urns made for water burials float for a few minutes, then sink into the water and slowly disintegrate. Scattering cremains at sea can be done with a scattering urn or with your hands.
  • What happens when a body is buried at sea? A full body will float to the surface in three to four days, upon which it will begin to decompose. The bones will sink under the surface again in about two weeks.
  • Who can be buried at sea? Anyone! You don’t have to be a military member to be buried in a large body of water. The most common type of burial at sea today is the scattering of cremated remains, but a full-body committal is also an option
  • Are there rules for full-body burial at sea? Anyone from sailors to fishermen and oceanfuneral home services in North Versailles, PA enthusiasts can be buried at sea with a full body burial. According to federal law, a full body burial at sea can only be completed in an area that’s at least 600 feet deep and at least three miles from shore. Also, a licensed funeral director must be on board the vessel.
  • How do you hire a boat for a sea burial? There are two ways to request a burial at sea: through the Navy or through a civilian charter company. Navy sea burials are only used for sailors who died when a ship is deployed, and the family wishes for their loved one to have a sea burial. Civilian ocean burials are when civilians charter a private boat and hire a funeral director to come along and bury a loved one on the water.

We are here to help if you want to learn more about burials at sea or North Versailles, PA funeral homes. Call or visit us today for more information on what we can do for you in your time of loss or preplanning.