Memorial Service Information

What is a Memorial Service?

The simple difference between a traditional funeral service and a memorial service is that a traditional funeral has a casket present, and a memorial service, or celebration of life is a gathering where a casket is not present (although the urn with the cremated remains may be on display). 

A memorial service/celebration of life can be held in a church, the funeral home or a community hall, or somewhere of importance to the deceased and family. There is usually music, selected readings, and a eulogy. 

It's interesting; funerals and memorial services/celebrations of life have much in common, yet they often appear very different. Each is a ceremony; a gathering of people who share a common loss. It's just that one is often more rooted in tradition, while the other is the result of recent changes in social values. But both serve to do three things:

1. Help the bereaved family, and their community, publicly acknowledge the death of one of their own

2. Support the grieving family by surrounding them with caring friends, co-workers, and neighbors

3. Move the deceased from one social status to another

Memorial Service Ideas

Question: How do we celebrate the life of a loved one?
Answer: Any way you want to.

If a personalized memorial service suits the needs of your family, we suggest you consider the following questions:
  • What did your loved one like to do?
  • What was he or she like as an individual?
  • What was their profession and how did that shape their life?
  • Was your loved one spiritual?
  • Was he or she proud of their cultural or ethnic heritage? 

    We're Here to Advise, Assist, and Guide You

    Using the above five questions as our guide, we will spend the time to help create a fitting memorial service for your loved one. Please call us to learn the details of our memorial service planning process.

    Why a Memorial Service?


    Rather than opting to do things "the same old way", many families today want to celebrate the life of a loved one. Many funeral service professionals see this change as one of the many contributions to social change made by  "Baby Boomers". The National Funeral Directors Association notes, "As baby boomers age and find themselves having to plan funerals for loved ones and themselves, they are making funeral choices based on values that are different than previous generations. Baby boomers see funerals as a valuable part of the grieving process and are seeking ways to make them meaningful." If you too desire to make the funeral for a loved one more engaging and personally meaningful, a celebration-of-life may be the perfect concept to build on.
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